Anara Ibrayeva

Anara Ibrayeva (she/her) is a lawyer, human rights defender, and Executive Director of Public Association "Dignity" (Kadyr-Kassiyet), the NGO she founded in 2010 in Astana, Kazakhstan. Dignity is the sole organization in Kazakhstan providing comprehensive assistance to human rights defenders. Utilizing a diverse set of advocacy methods, Dignity’s work reaches across issues such as the protection of activists, prevention of torture, judicial and prison reform, women's rights, children's rights, and ecological justice. A separate area of ​​work is assisting the state in implementing the decisions of UN committees. Outside of her leadership at Dignity, Ibrayeva is a PhD candidate in Jurisprudence who defended her dissertation at the Kazakh Humanitarian Law University. She also holds diplomas in law and history as well as licenses to practice as both an advocate and notary. She has taught at the Academy of Justice under the Supreme Judicial Council for fifteen years, training judges across all levels and specializations.

Before founding Dignity, Ibrayeva spent 17 years at the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, building deep expertise in human rights monitoring and legal advocacy. She has since prevailed in 10 communications before UN human rights mechanisms, including the Human Rights Committee, the Committee Against Torture, and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. She continues to prepare amicus curiae opinions for domestic courts. Among her recent achievements is the criminalization of school bullying under domestic law in 2023 and the initiation of the 2024 Human Rights Defenders Protection Index, implemented with partners across 16 countries. Ibrayeva's current focus includes advocating for a national law to protect human rights defenders and working toward the establishment of a dedicated equality and anti-discrimination court in Kazakhstan.

Anara is a participant in the 2026-27 Human Rights Advocates Program at the Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University.