Headshot of Maaike de Langen
Download Headshot
Our Experts

Maaike de Langen

  • Senior Fellow

Maaike de Langen is a Senior Fellow at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation (CIC) and works independently as an international consultant in New York City.

Previously at CIC, she was Head of Research for the Pathfinders’ Task Force on Justice and oversaw the research for the Justice for All report. She forged the global mobilization of governments and justice partners around people-centered justice.

She subsequently founded and directed the Pathfinders for Justice Program, which created the Justice Action Coalition, the Ibero-American Justice Alliance and the Young Justice Leaders, and published the Justice in a Pandemic briefing series, amongst others.

Maaike started her career with the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance, and Development (Leiden University) where she did socio-legal research in the North of Mali.

She then worked for UNDP in N’Djamena, Chad and at HQ in New York, working on governance, human rights, access to justice, and legal empowerment of the poor. She had a critical role in drafting the Report of the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor and created UNDP’s first global project on Legal Empowerment of the Poor.

Back in the Netherlands, she was first advisor to the National ombudsman for eight years, creating and leading the Department for Strategy and Policy. In 2014, she returned to Mali for a year, to design the Dutch bilateral program on Security and Rule of Law.

Early in 2018, she joined NYU CIC, with a first assignment as member of the review team for the review of the UN’s Global Focal Point for Police, Justice and Corrections.

She lives in New York City with her husband and two daughters.

Read Maaike’s latest articles on Medium.

Read Maaike's Work

  • Publication: Policy Brief March 31, 2023

    Making Access to Justice for All a Reality: Appraising Progress on the Promise of SDG16

    This paper describes the efforts of the movement for people-centered justice over the past years and sets out what progress was made, first in setting the agenda and defining the approach, with the work of the Task Force on Justice at its heart, and subsequently in expanding political support and building networks of diverse stakeholders, culminating in the founding of the Justice Action Coalition.

  • Publication: Analysis September 20, 2021 Humanitarian Crises

    Our Common Agenda: A Quick Scan

    On Friday, September 10, 2021, Secretary-General António Guterres presented Our Common Agenda, his response to the request made by UN member states for recommendations in the 75th anniversary declaration adopted in 2020. In this analysis, the teams at NYU’s Center on International Cooperation and Pathfinders share their initial observations and impressions on how Our Common Agenda links to ongoing and planned efforts on peace, justice, inclusion, preventing humanitarian crises, and supporting peacebuilding and multilateralism.

  • Publication: Policy Brief July 14, 2021

    Justice in a Pandemic, Briefing Three: Justice for All and the Social Contract in Peril

    This Pathfinders briefing, drafted by lead authors David Steven, Maaike de Langen, Sam Muller, and Mark Weston, together with more than 30 partners from around the world, publishes its third and final briefing on Justice in a Pandemic, a series examining the role of justice sectors in responding to the COVID-19 crisis.

  • Publication: Policy Brief April 8, 2020

    Justice in a Pandemic, Briefing One: Justice for All and the Public Health Emergency

    The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global emergency. It is not only a health crisis but also a human rights crisis. Justice actors face daunting responsibilities as they design, implement, and enforce new measures to prevent the spread of infection. Measures that heighten the risk of human rights abuses can undermine trust, at a time when the justice system most needs to maintain the public’s confidence. For better or for worse, justice systems and justice workers are on the frontline of this pandemic.

Stay Connected

Join our mailing list to receive regular updates on our latest events, analysis, and resources.

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.