Maria Margarita Ardivilla is the child protection specialist of UNICEF Philippines, handling justice for children and the child protection information management system. She is responsible for the design, management, implementation and evaluation of programmes around violence against children, including child online sexual abuse and exploitation. Maria manages the research around child online protection including the Systematic Literature Review, Capacity Gap Analysis, Philippine Kids Online and the National Study. She is also the UNICEF focal point for the recently concluded National Baseline Survey on Violence Against Children. Previously, she held the portfolio involving children in situations of armed conflict. She is a lawyer and holds a Juris Doctor degree from the Ateneo School of Law in the Philippines and a Master of Law in International Human Rights Law from the University of Hong Kong. After law school, she engaged in private practice and thereafter joined the Commission on Human Rights. Before joining UNICEF, she was with the Philippine Department of Justice advising on policy involving human rights and special interest legislation.
UNICEF Philippines
