Member of the Greens/European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament

Chair of the Human Rights Subcommittee

Substitute member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

Substitute member of the Iran Delegation

Substitute member of the India Delegation

Born in 1959 in Ronsberg in the Bavarian region of Allgäu, South Germany. Learned tax inspector and social work studies (Diplom) in Munich. Direction of a service centre and home for the elderly. Foundation of a flat-sharing community for the elderly. Studies in political science, international law and economics (Magister). From 1987 to 1991, assistant (Parlamentsreferent) of the MP Eleonore Romberg (die Grünen) within the Bavarian Parliament. Between 1992 and 1999, Secretary General of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in Geneva. From 1999 to 2009, Secretary General of the German section of Amnesty International.

My convictions

Having encountered social inequality both during my studies and my time as social worker, I quickly understood the need for concrete help in individual cases. At the same, however, I realized that politics has the responsibility to guarantee the basic conditions necessary to a humane and decent life. Moreover, the fact of looking into many feminist subjects in Germany sparked my interest in the living conditions of women in extreme poverty, violent conflicts and wars. My political interest is based on a passionate commitment to peace, which should be understood as more than the mere absence of war, on my dedication to human rights, and the rejection of exclusions of any kind.

These are the main reasons explaining my decision to work with the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and with Amnesty International. It still fascinates me to understand both individual fates and the surrounding global framework, and to try and influence this very framework in order to allow for a humane and self-determined life in all its diversity.

Memberships

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (since 1985)

Founding member of the German Institute for Human Rights (Deutsches Institut für Menschenrechte)

Founding member of the Human Rights Foundation (Stiftung Menschenrechte)

Member of the curatorship of the Roland Berger Foundation (Roland-Berger-Stiftung)

Member of the German Committee for UNICEF e.V. (Deutsches Komitee für UNICEF e.V.)

Sustaining member of the Heinrich Böll Foundation (Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung)

Member of the United Nations Association of Germany (Deutsche Gesellschaft für die Vereinten Nationen)