Gunnar Sørbø was a board member of the Rafto Foundation between 2001 and 2006.

He has agreed to be Head of the Board of Directors in 2012 because he believes the Rafto Foundation plays an important international role in highlighting the importance of human rights.”The foundation has for many years managed to highlight individuals and organizations that are vulnerable and that need all the support they can get. They have been strengthened by the Rafto Prize award. The Rafto Foundation is run on limited financial resources, but it has skilled and enthusiastic staff who are assisted by students in Bergen. What the Rafto Foundation has achieved since it was established in 1986 is impressive”, says Gunnar Sørbø. 

He takes over from Anne Kloster Holst who has held the position since 2010.

Background 
Gunnar Sørbø is a social anthropologist. His main of field of research is conflict and peace building in Sudan and Sri Lanka. During 1994-2010 Sørbø was a director at Christian Michelsen Institute. Before joining CMI, he was the first director for Development Studies at the University of Bergen. He has held positions as trustee or board member at several organisations, including the Norwegian Agency for International Development, the International Food Policy Research Institute, the International Livestock Centre for Africa and the Research Council of Norway (Division of Environment and Development). During 1993-95, Sørbø was a member of the North-South/Aid Commission appointed by the Norwegian Government.

Rafto Foundation – Board of Directors 2012 
The Rafto Foundation’s Board of Directors comprises seven members and one observer: 

Gunnar Sørbø – head (new) 
Work: Senior Researcher, Christian Michelsen Research Institute (CMI)

Eva Tamber – deputy chairperson 
Work: Senior Adviser, AFF at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH)

Asunción Torellas Lera – member 
Work: Research Director, Center for International Climate and Environmental Research (CICERO) 

Harald Kobbe – member 
Work: Lawyer/partner, Kluge 

Siri Gloppen – member (new) 
Work: Research Director, Christian Michelsen Research Institute (CMI) and Professor at the Department of Comparative Politics, University of Bergen.

Martin Paulsen – member 
Work: Post doctor, University of Bergen, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Foreign Languages. Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee

Gunta Venge – employee representative (re-elected) 
Work: Adviser, Rafto Foundation

Else Kathrine Nesmoen – observer, Head of the Friends of the Rafto Foundation (re-elected) 
Work: Adviser, Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Education (SIU)


Contacts 
Head of the Rafto Foundation’s Board of Directors, Gunnar Sørbø 
Phone: +47 55 12 10 71 
Mobile: +47 92 82 80 29 
E-mail: gunnar.sorbo(at)cmi.no 
www.rafto.no 
  
Head of Information, the Rafto Foundation, Kari Amble 
Telephone: +47 55 21 09 75 
Mobile: +47 91 31 44 17 
E-mail: kari.amble(at)rafto.no 
www.rafto.no 
Facebook – Raftostiftelsen

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