Bina Dcosta

Background

About Bina Dcosta

I am an activist-scholar of global politics at home in classrooms and conflict zones alike. I work at the intersection of global politics, humanitarian emergencies, and human rights, with a particular focus on the protection of children and young people in crisis settings, and on sexual and gender-based violence. My research is grounded in the lived experiences of women, children, and marginalized communities affected by war, displacement, and systemic violence. I’m currently a Professor in the Department of International Relations at the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, Australian National University. I hold an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship and lead the Migration and Trafficking research stream at the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW). My Future Fellowship explores how human rights frameworks can better protect children and young people in emergencies—particularly in relation to trafficking, early and forced marriage, exploitative labor, and sexual abuse. At CEVAW, I focus on violence against women in migration and trafficking contexts. I also serve as a UN Special Procedures Mandate Holder with the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent (Chair Rapporteur 2024–2025), contributing to global efforts to address racial injustice and structural inequality. My work has taken me from academic institutions to humanitarian field operations. During Europe’s refugee emergency, I joined UNICEF’s Office of Research–Innocenti as its senior migration and displacement specialist, where I helped establish and lead its Migration and Displacement program. I’ve led research in the Horn of Africa, Jordan, Lebanon, and Bangladesh, including in UNICEF’s Rohingya Emergency Response in Cox’s Bazar. Over the years, I’ve collaborated with UNRISD, UNDP, OHCHR, DFAT, and FCDO, contributing to research and policy across South and Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and East and Southern Africa. I serve on the editorial boards of the International Studies Review, the International Journal for Transitional Justice, and the International Journal of Feminist Politics. I’ve held visiting fellowships at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, the Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford, and the Global Justice Center in New York. In 2017, I served as Asia Rapporteur for the ASEM global conference on Children and Human Rights. At the core of my work is a commitment to justice. I continue to learn from the communities I work with and strive to bring their insights into the spaces where policies are shaped.