Since 2013 Selmin Çalışkan is the Secretary General of Amnesty International Germany. Most recently, she has worked for the organisation European Women’s Lobby in Brussels and has played a major role in creating the European Network of Migrant Women. Following on from her position at Medica Mondiale, in 2010 Ms Çalışkan started working for the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) in Kabul and as a consultant for Care International. From 2003 to 2010, Ms Çalışkan worked for the women’s rights organisation Medica Mondiale, regularly travelling to Liberia, DRC and Afghanistan to advise local women’s rights organisations and train their members in the fields of political lobbying and civil conflict management. In 2002 and 2003, she oversaw a project designed to help elderly migrants in Wuppertal, run by the social welfare organisation of the Protestant Church in Germany. At the age of 16, she started campaigning for decent housing conditions in deprived areas, tutoring migrants and translating asylum applications. By the time she was 20, she had helped establish an intercultural girls’ centre in Bonn. She launched various different projects for advising refugees in legal matters and helping women through difficult situations.