9 September 2020, 15:00-16:30
Right On
Diplo Foundation
Pick up a newspaper, turn on the TV or flick through the latest Tweets on your feed, and chances are you will come across a multitude of stories about human rights. However, the vast majority of those stories will be focused on ‘negatives’ – the gross violation of rights in Syria or Myanmar; the threat to human rights posed by new technologies and the ‘surveillance State;’ strident criticisms from the US, Turkish, Hungarian or Chinese government officials about the United Nations (UN), the UN Human Rights Council or UN Special Rapporteurs; indignation that Venezuela or Saudi Arabia have won a seat on the Council during the latest elections; suggestions from the US Secretary of State that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is no longer fit-for-purpose; and bleak warnings from leaders that human rights and democracy are being ‘rolled back’ around the world.
This partly reflects human nature and the 24/7 media/social media culture where ‘no news is good news’ or ‘good news is no news,’ and where interest naturally gravitates to the ‘negative.’ But this is also reflective of a crisis in confidence amongst the international human rights community, both in their own regard and, in a relative sense, in the context of the ‘global battle of ideas’ with the world’s populist and nationalist leaders, and others who reject universal values and supranational institutions.
To find out what to do about this situation, how we can fight back, and what role modern, professional communication techniques and strategies play in that regard, join us for the first web chat of Right On 2.0.
To join the discussion, you need to register here.
‘Right On’ is a new digital initiative – co-organized by the Geneva Academy, the Geneva Human Rights Platform, the Geneva Internet Platform, the DiploFoundation, the Universal Right Group, the Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex, as well as the Permanent Missions of Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands to the United Nations in Geneva – that will keep the human rights dialogue going during these COVID-19 times.
Every Wednesday at 15:00, experts and practitioners will discuss key human rights issues related to the current health crisis.
Pick up a newspaper, turn on the TV or flick through the latest Tweets on your feed, and chances are you will come across a multitude of stories about human rights. However, the vast majority of those stories will be focused on ‘negatives’ – the gross violation of rights in Syria or Myanmar; the threat to human rights posed by new technologies and the ‘surveillance State;’ strident criticisms from US, Turkish, Hungarian or Chinese government officials about the UN, the Human Rights Council or Special Rapporteurs; indignation that Venezuela or Saudi Arabia have won a seat on the Council during the latest elections; suggestions from the US Secretary of State that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is no longer fit-for-purpose; and bleak warnings from leaders that human rights and democracy are being ‘rolled back’ around the world.
Geneva Academy
Applications for the 2023–2024 academic year of our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights are open. They will run until 27 January 2023 for applications with a scholarship and until 23 February 2023 for applications without a scholarship.
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré
Our new working paper Assessment Tool for Special Procedures' Impact Evaluation – Developing an Initial Framework examines how to further develop methodologies to appraise the impact of UN Special Procedures.
UN Women/Ryan Brown
This Human Rights Conversation will discuss child participation in the work of UN human rights mechanisms and opportunities to move away from today’s reliance on individual organizations or UN representatives’ initiatives.
Adobe
This training course will explore the major international and regional instruments for the promotion of human rights, as well as with their implementation and enforcement mechanisms; and provide practical insights into the different UN human rights mechanisms pertinent to advancing environmental issues and protecting environmental human rights defenders.
ICRC
This online short course focuses on the specific issues that arise in times of armed conflict regarding the respect, protection and fulfilment of human rights. It addresses key issues like the applicability of human rights in times of armed conflict; the possibilities of restricting human rights under systems of limitations and derogations; and the extraterritorial application of human rights law.
CCPR Centre
The Geneva Human Rights Platform collaborates with a series of actors to reflect on the implementation of international human rights norms at the local level and propose solutions to improve uptake of recommendations and decisions taken by Geneva-based human rights bodies at the local level.
Olivier Chamard/Geneva Academy
Canva