28 October 2020, 15:00-16:30
Event
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré
Over the last decades, the United Nations (UN) has set up a remarkable and multi-faceted system of mechanisms for the protection and promotion of human rights and the monitoring of their implementation.
Within this system, functions have shifted and evolved, from the ECOSOC to the UN General Assembly (UNGA), or with the rise of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC)’s importance. UN treaty bodies (TBs) have multiplied and their speed of governance adaptation has not kept pace with the increasing numbers of parties, reports and individual complaints.
Numerous reform and review efforts have taken place, including the ongoing 2020 review of the TB system or the upcoming 2021–2026 review of the HRC. At the same time, the governance of human rights within the UN system has dramatically increased, notably with the development of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
In this online event co-organized with the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at New York University School of Law, some of the contributors to the new edition of Philip Alston and Frédéric Mégret’s book ‘The United Nations and Human Rights’ will critically examine the functions, procedures, and performance of each of the major UN organs dealing with human rights.
Panelists will share their views and insights regarding the interplay of the Charter-based and treaty-based organs, the roles of the UNGA, the HRC, TBs and OHCHR in how they individually and collectively engage in monitoring human rights implementation by UN member states.
Please use the Zoom chat function to ask your questions, the moderator will make a selection of questions at the end of the presentations. There will be no possibility to interact by webcam and microphone in order to avoid connection issues.
In this online event co-organized with the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at New York University School of Law, some of the contributors to the new edition of Philip Alston and Frédéric Mégret’s book ‘The United Nations and Human Rights’ – Philip Alston, Rosa Freedman, Suzanne Egan and Andrew Clapham – critically examined the functions, procedures, and performance of each of the major UN organs dealing with human rights.
Accept International
Dr Yosuke Nagai is the founder and CEO of Accept International, which works on de-radicalization and reintegration for defectors and prisoners formerly involved with violent extremist groups. He just started as Visiting Fellow at the Geneva Academy and will stay with us until the end of March.
Olivier Chamard/Geneva Academy
The 2022 Annual Conference of the Geneva Human Rights Platform addressed the issue of digital connectivity in the field of human rights via an expert meeting in the morning and a public discussion in the afternoon.
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.
UN Photo / Jean-Marc Ferré
This training course will explore the origin and evolution of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and its functioning in Geneva and will focus on the nature of implementation of the UPR recommendations at the national level.
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.
UN Photo / Jean-Marc Ferré
Olivier Chamard/Geneva Academy
Canva