Karin Sundström is a PhD Student at the Department of Political Science, Stockholm University, Sweden. Her dissertation concerns national human rights institutions and their institutional design, with a special focus on the African regional context. After receiving her Master’s Degree in Political Science from Stockholm University in 2011, Karin worked as a research assistant at the Folke Bernadotte Academy on issues related to women, peace and security before joining the PhD program. She has also worked as a research assistant at the Department of Political Science at Stockholm University in a research project on the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). She has also been an intern at the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the United Nations in New York and studied at Sorbonne and Sciences Po in Paris. Karin’s research interests include international organization, institutional theory, human rights, regionalism and the African Union.