Geneva Academy
18 June 2019
At a meeting co-organized with the permanent missions of Costa Rica and Japan to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, Geneva-based diplomats discussed the current status of the 2020 review of UN treaty bodies (TBs), upcoming milestones, as well as the proposals submitted by various stakeholders, including states, members of TBs, NGOs and academics.
‘Short inputs from all stakeholders informed the discussion and showed a promising amount of convergence in positions, both on the fundamental aim of any review – the strengthening of human rights protection – as well as on the concrete and specific measures such as the alignment of working methods of TBs. A majority of states present also agreed on the merit of clustering state reports and dialogues, as a means to avoid unnecessary overlap in structure and substance’ explains Felix Kirchmeier, Coordinator of the Geneva Human Rights Platform.
‘These proposals will inform the third and final report of the UN Secretary-General, which will formulate a series of recommendations to strengthen the work of UN TBs and will constitute the main source of information for delegations who will negotiate the follow-up resolution to 68/268 next spring ’ stresses Felix Kirchmeier.
The 2020 review is a unique occasion to improve the work of UN TBs.
‘While TBs are based in Geneva, the negotiations are taking place in New York. It is therefore essential to feed the negotiations in New York with the expertise we have in Geneva’ underlines Felix Kirchmeier.
Domenico Zipoli
At a roundtable organized by OHCHR in partnership with the Geneva Human Rights Platform, the Universal Rights Group, and the Danish Institute for Human Rights, experts discussed how they intend to give effect to the recommendations made in HRC report 50/64 on the establishment and development of national mechanisms for implementation, reporting and follow-up.
Adobe
We are launching today a one-month crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for a scholarship to allow a talented European student with limited means and resources to follow our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights.
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.
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.
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.
Canva