In its latest session, the Human Rights Council appointed Mr. Dainius Puras from Lithuania as the third Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.

Puras (56) is a Professor at Vilnius University, Lithuania, and has extensive expertise on the right to health and a specific interest in child rights and mental health. Since 1986, he teaches courses on public mental health, child mental health and health policy at Vilnius University. He has published extensively in national and international journals on health and human rights related issues, and has contributed to book chapters as well. In 2011, he authored the study “The rights of vulnerable children under the age of three” commissioned by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

A long time human rights advocate, Puras is currently chair of the board of the Human Rights Monitoring Institute and of the Lithuanian coalition “For child rights”. From 2007 to 2011 he was a member of the UN Committee on Child Rights. Since 1990, he has worked with international organizations, NGOs and governments in many countries, including consultations to UNICEF, the WHO Mental Health Programme and the WHO Task Force for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.