Heidi-Maria Helenius

Communications Officer

Heidi-Maria Helenius is a Researcher with the National Institute for Health and Welfare of Finland (THL) and works as a Communications Officer with the EU-SPS Programme. Prior to joining the EU-SPS, Heidi-Maria worked as a Child Rights Officer with the UNICEF Geneva Office working closely with the Geneva-based human rights mechanisms, including the various human rights committees and the Human Rights Council. Heidi-Maria has also worked as a Liaison Officer at the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) headquarters where she managed and coordinated WFD’s cooperation with international partners. She was also in charge of WFD’s human rights education and capacity building project covering 18 West and Central African countries.

Heidi-Maria holds an MA in International Relations and Middle East Studies (Joint Honours) from University of St Andrews, an MSc in Political Science from University of Helsinki, and has studied international law and politics at Sciences-Po Paris and disability studies at University of Leeds.