Practitioners Develop Tools to Integrate Human Rights and the SDGs in their Work

21 September 2020

During one week, 13 practitioners – including staff from NGOs and government representatives – explored the relationship between economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the training course took place both in Geneva and online – with four participants in Geneva and nine online.

‘Despite the fact that most participants were online, we ensured the same level of quality and interaction as if they were all here at our headquarters. The diverse backgrounds of participants – coming from Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Europe – allowed for rich discussions and interactions, notably during the group exercises’ underlines Dr Christophe Golay, Strategic Adviser on ESCR at the Geneva Academy.

View of a laptop

A Busy Programme: Acquiring the Tools to Integrate ESCR and the SDGs in One's Work

The five-day course entailed a busy programme, which allowed participants to acquire the practical tools to include ESCR and the SDGs in their work.

Topics covered through interactive lectures and group exercises included the inclusion of human rights in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; the relationship between the SDGs and specific rights like the rights to health, social security, education, water and sanitation, food and housing; gender equality and women empowerment; indicators and disaggregated data; as well as monitoring and accountability.

‘Our objective is that participants, at the end of the course, are familiar with both the human rights and SDGs frameworks and are able to integrate tools for implementing and monitoring ESCR and the SDGs in their work’ explains Dr Golay.

Participants during the training course

Interaction with UN Experts

Participants could also exchange with United Nations (UN) independent experts – Léo Heller, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to water and sanitation, Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, and Meskerem Geset Techane, member of the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice – on their respective mandates and work on the SDGs.

‘For me, this training course served as a reminder of the value of integrating human rights and the SDGs in the work of national civil society organizations as they navigate economic, financial and health crisis in Lebanon.

The course provided a range of information on ESCR and the SDGs, and on how they both relate to development. The content of the course was very relevant to the work I do as a behavioural analyst. Additionally, what made the course unique is the presence of a multitude of experts working with the UN and other organizations and the fact that they shared their experience and knowledge surrounding human rights and the challenges faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic’ explains Rewa El Masry, Behavioural Economics Consultant for the NGO Nudge Lebanon.

Upcoming 2020 Training Courses

Three training courses – on the Universal Periodic Review (2–6 November), the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment (23–27 November), and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants (7– 11 December) – are scheduled until the end of the year: applications are still open for the three of them!

They will also take place in Geneva and online, allowing participants who cannot travel to Geneva to follow them and interact with other participants and experts.

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

GHRP EU News News

Bridging Geneva and Europe: advancing human rights in the digital age

2 June 2025

The Geneva Human Rights Platform has taken its work on strengthening the international human rights system to the heart of European policymaking.

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

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

A general view of participants during of the 33nd ordinary session of the Human Rights Council. Training

The Universal Periodic Review and the UN Human Rights System: Raising the Bar on Accountability

10-14 November 2025

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.

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

Crops view from the sky Project

The Right to Food in Europe

Started in December 2022

This research will provide legal expertise to a variety of stakeholders on the implementation of the right to food, and on the right to food as a legal basis for just transformation toward sustainable food systems in Europe. It will also identify lessons learned from the 2023 recognition of the right to food in the Constitution of the Canton of Geneva.  

Read more

Online folders Project

Digital Human Rights Tracking Tools and Databases

Started in March 2023

This initiative wishes to contribute to better and more coordinated implementation, reporting and follow-up of international human rights recommendations through a global study on digital human rights tracking tools and databases.

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

Cover page of the working paper Publication

AI Decoded: Key Concepts and Applications of Artificial Intelligence for Human Rights and SDG Monitoring

published on January 2025

Milica Mirkovic, Jennifer Victoria Scurrell

Read more