Formal Launch of the 2020 Review of UN Treaty Bodies: Our Input

A session of a UN treary body in Geneva A session of a UN treary body in Geneva

4 June 2020

The 2020 Review of United Nations (UN) treaty bodies (TBs), facilitated by the Permanent Representatives of Switzerland and Morocco to the UN in New York, was formally launched on 2 June.

‘This review represents an opportunity to further reflect on the TB system’s future and develop innovative proposals and solutions without weakening the human rights protection that the system currently affords’ explains Felix Kirchmeier, Executive Director of the Geneva Human Rights Platform (GHRP).

Providing Expert Inputs

The GHRP has been contributing to this review by providing expert input via different avenues, by facilitating dialogue on the review among various stakeholders, as well as by accompanying the discussions towards the follow-up resolution to 68/268 in New York and in Geneva.
This contribution builds upon the three-year global project of the Academic Platform, which developed models to optimize the reporting and dialogue processes of TBs.

The GHRP has since refined the proposals, adding a calendar system to schedule TB reviews optimally, and identified measures to update the TB communication procedure.

‘We were very pleased to see that in her address to states, Michelle Bachelet recalled that there is no need to reopen the treaties, a premise we followed with our Academic Platform and the recommendations we formulated’ underlines Felix Kirchmeier.

‘The High Commissioner also stressed that many steps to improve the system can be taken by TB themselves: many of our recommendations, including the coordinated scheduling of state reviews before TBs, go in this direction’ he adds.

MORE ON THIS THEMATIC AREA

neurodata graphics News

New Research Brief Evaluates the Effectiveness of GDPR in Mitigating Risks Associated with the Distinctive Nature of Neurodata

21 January 2025

Our recent research brief, Neurodata: Navigating GDPR and AI Act Compliance in the Context of Neurotechnology, examines how effectively GDPR addresses the unique risks posed by neurodata.

Read more

Geneva Academy Briefing No.25 News

New Academy Briefing Calls for Stronger Engagement of Local and Regional Governments in Human Rights and SDG Monitoring

11 March 2025

The Geneva Academy’s latest publication explores how cities, municipalities, and regional authorities are becoming key players in global human rights governance.

Read more

AI for Good Event Event

AI for human rights: Smarter, faster, fairer monitoring

8 July 2025, 14:00-16:00

The event, as part of the AI for Good Summit 2025 will explore how AI tools can support faster data analysis, help uncover patterns in large datasets, and expand the reach of human rights work.

Read more

United Nations Geneva Event

‘Urgency Measures’ to face a triple crisis – what insights can be taken from the Treaty Body strengthening process?

4 June 2025, 13:30-15:00

This side event represents a critical opportunity to reflect on the innovative approaches taken through the treaty body strengthening process and to consider the future direction of the treaty body system.

Read more

Training

Human Rights and the Environment: Introducing Legal Regimes and Key Issues

1-8 September 2025

Participants in this training course will be introduced to the major international and regional instruments for the promotion of human rights, as well as international environmental law and its implementation and enforcement mechanisms.

Read more

Town Hall Meeting Training

Localizing International Human Rights

8-10 October 2025

This training course, specifically designed for staff of city and regional governments, will explore the means and mechanisms through which local and regional governments can interact with and integrate the recommendations of international human rights bodies in their concrete work at the local level.

Read more

Sign: National Human Rights Commission of Nepal Project

Local Implementation of Global Human Rights

Started in May 2020

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.

Read more

First annual conference of the Geneva Human Rights Platform Project

The Annual Conference of the Geneva Human Rights Platform

Started in June 2019

Read more

Cover of the publication Publication

Briefing N° 25: Localizing Multilateralism

published on March 2025

Domenico Zipoli, Ludovica Chiussi Curzi, Kamelia Kemileva

Read more