Kelley Currie proposed as next UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar

The U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) has proposed Kelley Currie as the next Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, after the term of current mandate holder Tom Andrews comes to an end this month.

The proposal was announced in a letter sent to U.N. member states on March 19, and a final decision is expected on March 31 – the final day of the HRC 61st session.

Currie is a former U.S. ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues and a longtime advocate for democracy and human rights in Myanmar.

A March 19 letter lists her full name, Kelley Anne Eckels-Currie, as the sole candidate to replace Andrews as Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Myanmar.

Members of the Myanmar diaspora in the U.S., who know Currie’s work, welcomed the proposal.

“For Myanmar, she understands the country and is someone who can continue the work,” James Shwe, a Burmese-American living in Los Angeles, told DVB. “Overall, we welcome how she approaches these issues.”

Currie has worked on Myanmar pro-democracy issues at the U.N. for over 30 years. She founded the Burma Transition Initiative at the Project 2049 Institute, where she advocates for Myanmar with the U.S. government.

“It is good news for both the revolution and the people of Myanmar,” Khin Thiri Nandar Soe, a Burmese-American living in the San Francisco Bay Area, told DVB. “One challenge could be how to work most effectively with the Trump administration, but she is highly capable and strategic.”

Currie addressed the U.S. House of Representatives hearing on Myanmar titled “No Exit Strategy: Burma’s Endless Crisis and America’s Limited Options” on Nov. 19, 2025.

She reportedly briefed lawmakers on the Myanmar military’s crimes and the resistance to the coup since Feb. 1, 2021. During her remarks, Currie said that peace would only come when the people of Myanmar are able to determine their own future.

The U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar is an independent expert appointed by the HRC to monitor and update the U.N. on the human rights situation in the country.

Myanmar has faced widespread human rights violations over the last five years since the 2021 coup took place and overturned five years of a touted “transition to democracy” taking place under Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party administration.

State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, and several other senior NLD leaders have been held in detention by the regime, led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, since Feb. 1, 2021.