Bina D'Costa

Bina D'Costa is an Australian-Bangladeshi academic who specializes in conflict and gender studies in South Asia.[1][2][3][4]

Career

D'Costa is a Professor of International Relations at the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs of the Australian National University. She was a visiting scholar at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva from 2012 to 2014[5] and a visiting scholar at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford from 2011 to 2012. D'Costa was at the Global Justice Center in New York City in 2008[6] and served as the Asia Rapporteur of Asia-Europe Meeting in 2017.[6] She is a member of the Dristhipat Writers' Collective.[7]

D'Costa has served as a senior Migration and Displacement Specialist with UNICEF leading the research program based at the Office of Research - Innocenti, Italy. [8][9] She received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Kroc Institute, University of Notre Dame, United States in 2020 and the J. Ann Tickner Award from the International Studies Association (ISA) in 2022.[10]

In March 2023 the Human Rights Council added new members to its Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent and D'Costa was one of them joining Miriam Ekiudoko of Hungary, American Dominique Day and Catherine S. Namakula of Uganda.[11] On 6 November 2025, as Chair of the United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, D’Costa, addressed the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. [12]

Publications and research

D'Costa research has focused on Children's Displacement [13] and has covered War Crimes, Genocide and Struggles for Justice in South Asia; Human Rights Activism and Indigenous Politics in South Asia; Identity Politics and Conflicts. She has contributed to policy research in UNICEF, OHCHR, the UNRISD, and CEVAW and various government's aid and international development programs.[14]

In her 2011 book Nation Building, Gender, and War Crimes in South Asia, D'Costa wrote about the murder of Bihari citizens during the Bangladesh Liberation war.[15] The Daily Star described her book as a "mammoth task"; she provided a gendered analysis of conflict in South Asia.[16] She has also carried out research on Birangona, rape victims of the Bangladesh Liberation war.[17] She also tracked down Australian doctor Geoffrey Davis, who carried abortions for rape victims after the war ended.[18]

D'Costa has written on how Rohingya people have been excluded and marginalized by the government of Myanmar.[19]

Selected works

  • Gender and Global Politics in the Asia-Pacific (2010)[5]
  • Nationbuilding, Gender and War Crimes in South Asia (2011)[5]
  • Children and Global Conflict (2015)[5]
  • Children and Violence: The Politics of Conflict in South Asia (2016)[5]
  • Cascades of Violence: War, Crime and Peacebuilding Across South Asia co-authored with John Braithwaite (2018)[5]

References

  1. ^ Maini-Thompson, Sapan. "'They all became animals': My grandfather remembers the trauma and violence of India's Partition". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 2020-07-28. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  2. ^ Islam, Kajalie Shehreen (2018-12-16). "The discursive silence of women in 1971". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 2019-01-24. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  3. ^ Perveen, Rakhshinda (2017-12-03). "The forgotten Biharis". Daily Times (Op-ed). Archived from the original on 2018-03-03. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  4. ^ D'Costa, Bina (2019-12-15). "A pathway to justice through jurisdiction?". The Daily Star (Opinion). Archived from the original on 2020-01-23. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Bina D'Costa". unicef-irc.org. Archived from the original on 2020-08-05. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  6. ^ a b Director (Research Services Division). "Professor Bina D'Costa". researchers.anu.edu.au. Archived from the original on 2020-07-09. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  7. ^ "Bina D'Costa". bdnews24.com (Opinion). 2010-12-15. Archived from the original on 2019-05-04. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  8. ^ "Members". OHCHR. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
  9. ^ D'Costa, Bina (2018). "Catching dreams and building hopes for children: A research-led policy agenda on migration and displacement". Migration Policy Practice. 8 (2): 4–9.
  10. ^ "Bina D'Costa". The Australian National University. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
  11. ^ "Current and former mandate holders (existing mandates)". OHCHR. 1 May 2024. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  12. ^ "Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent". OHCHR. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
  13. ^ "Humanitarian emergencies, protection, and displacement projects". Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs. 2026-02-23. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
  14. ^ "Bina D'Costa". The Australian National University. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
  15. ^ Ahmed, Mir Aftabuddin (2019-10-29). "Stranded, unwanted, and persecuted". Dhaka Tribune (Opinion). Archived from the original on 2019-11-05. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  16. ^ Murthy, Laxmi (2017-03-26). "The Birangana and the birth of Bangladesh". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 2019-12-16. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  17. ^ Roy, Mallarika Sinha. "The Women of 1971, on Either Side of the Bengal Border". The Wire. Archived from the original on 2019-02-20. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  18. ^ D'Costa, Bina (2010-12-15). "1971: Rape and its consequences". bdnews24.com (Opinion).
  19. ^ D'Costa, Bina (August 2012). "Rohingyas and the 'Right to Have Rights'". Forum. The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 2020-02-23. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bina_D%E2%80%99Costa