A/HRC/36/17 Virginia B. Dandan (Philippines) Ms. Virginia B. Dandan was appointed by the Human Rights Council as the independent expert on human rights and international solidarity in June 2011. She assumed her functions on 1 August 2011. Ms. Dandan is an internationally recognized expert in economic, social and cultural rights and served as the Chairperson of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights for eight years from 1999 to 2007, having been a member of the Committee for twenty years (1990-2010). She retired from teaching in 2009, from the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts, where she was a faculty member until 2009, and Dean from 2001 to 2006. She has extensive experience in human rights work on the ground, providing technical assistance on UN treaty body reporting, and training courses on economic, social and cultural rights, human rights in development, human rights education and training, the rights of indigenous peoples, cultural rights, gender issues, and sustainable development. 20