7 March 2023, 18:00-20:00
Register start 14 February 2023
Register end 6 March 2023
Human Rights Conversations
Adobe
Following the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini on 16 September 2022, protests in Iran have intensified and call for a change in Iran’s mandatory hijab law, which has been in force since 1979. The ongoing civil unrest has once again brought under the spotlight the role of religious symbols and the protection of human rights, and women’s rights in particular.
The wearing of hijabs is a particularly controversial topic which has given rise to conflicting jurisprudence in human rights law. If at the international level, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee has underscored that ‘the observance and practice of religion or belief may include not only ceremonial acts but also such customs as […] the wearing of distinctive clothing or head coverings’ (General Comment 22), the European Court of Human Rights declared the French ban on wearing of ‘any article of clothing intended to conceal the face’ in a ‘public place’ is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
This Human Rights Conversation organized on the eve of International Women's day, will explore the implications that legislative measures on hijabs, either banning or mandating them, have on the protection of women’s rights.
Human Rights Conversations are a series of events, hosted by the Geneva Human Rights Platform, aimed at discussing contemporary issues and challenges related to the promotion and protection of human rights in Geneva and beyond.
This Human Rights Conversation explored the implications that legislative measures on hijabs, either banning or mandating them, have on the protection of women’s rights.
Geneva Academy
The GHRP’s annual training equipped 19 diplomats with key insights into the UN Human Rights Council’s mechanisms and multilateral processes.
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 examine how the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights have been utilized to advance the concept of business respect for human rights throughout the UN system, the impact of the Guiding Principles on other international organizations, as well as the impact of standards and guidance developed by these different bodies.
UNAMID
This project will develop guidance to inform security, human rights and environmental debates on the linkages between environmental rights and conflict, and how their better management can serve as a tool in conflict prevention, resilience and early warning.
The Geneva Human Rights Platform contributes to this review process by providing expert input via different avenues, by facilitating dialogue on the review among various stakeholders, as well as by accompanying the development of a follow-up resolution to 68/268 in New York and in Geneva.
Geneva Academy
Geneva Academy