Odete Severino Soares is a Guest Professor of Family and Children’s Law at NOVA School of Law and Deputy Director of NOVA Centre for Child Law and Children’s Rights (NOVACCL).
She is a currently PhD candidate and an Associate Researcher at the Centre for Policy on the Convention on the Rights of the Child at NOVA School of Law. She holds Master in Law from NOVA School of Law.
She is the Executive Coordinator of the Postgraduate Course on Children’s Rights at NOVA School of Law.
She has taught several specific training courses in the area of children’s rights.
She is a member of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Children and Adolescents at the University of the Azores.
She is a member of the international organisations EUROCHILD and the Child Friendly Justice European Network and of the national organisation Instituto de Apoio à Criança.
She is an associate member of the NOVA Knowledge Centre for Business, Human Rights and the Environment at NOVA.
She is an independent expert at Caritas Portuguesa Observatory for the area of children.
Member of the Advisory Board of the National Monitoring Mechanism for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, representing the National Human Rights Commission.
She was Director at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security for 10 years, having participated as an expert with the Council of Europe, the United Nations and the European Union in the areas of social policy, equality, human rights and children’s rights, participating in several national, European and international working groups and committees.
She was Vice-President of the National Commission for the Promotion of the Rights and Protection of Children and Young People for 4 years.
Author and co-author of several publications and books on children’s rights, including the books “À Descoberta dos Direitos da Criança” (Discovering the Rights of Children), 2023, published by the Portuguese Parliament and “O Direito de Participação e Audição das Crianças nos Processos Judiciais” (The Right of Children Participation and Hearing within the Administrative and Civil Judicial Proceedings), Sílabo, 2024.
Author of the Podcast “Children in Law” from NOVA School of Law and participated in the Expresso Newspaper Podcast “Children” as a resident guest.