Orhan Usein

---

Work
His last engagement was with the Humanity in Action and the Lantos Foundation on Human Rights and Justice, as a Senior Lantos Fellow at the US House of Representatives, working in the office of Congressman Eliot L. Engel. His previous work experience includes internships in the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC), Roma Education Fund and the European Commission (DG Enterprise and Industry). He has also worked at the Soros Foundation in Macedonia as a Roma fellow, and has participated in many seminars and conferences dealing with youth engagement, social inclusion strategies and equality policies. He is also a member of the Forum on European Roma Young People (FERYP), working on advocacy issues related to Roma youth policies.

Education
Orhan has a BA degree in Political Science from the Faculty of Law “Iustinianus Primus” in Skopje, Macedonia; and a MA degree in International Relations and European Studies from the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary.

Areas of Interest
Orhan has developed a keen interest for minority rights and minority protection. He is specifically interested in Roma rights; LGBTQI groups; as well as immigrants and asylum seekers in Europe and strategies for social integration of these groups. He wrote his MA thesis on Muslim immigrants in France and Spain, analyzing the left-right politics of national identity and their reflections on integration policies for immigrants. In addition, while working at the ERRC he was researching the issue of LGBT activism among Roma and the problems of multiple discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation. In July 2012, Orhan was a facilitator at the Summer School of the ERRC, where he had a training session titled ”Multiple discrimination: A perspective on gender identity and sexual orientation”.

Personal
Orhan comes from Macedonia, but lived for longer periods in Germany, Belgium, Hungary and the USA, which helped him become easily adaptable to new environments. He is an energetic person that is always looking forward to challenging and demanding tasks. He enjoys swimming, dancing and reading books.