Adobe>
25 April 2023
The United Nations (UN) Committee on Enforced Disappearances completed the first draft of its very first General Comment (GC) – now out for consultation – on enforced disappearances in the context of migration.
The Geneva Human Rights Platform, supported by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, facilitated the drafting process by organizing a complementary informal one-week retreat for the Committee and additional background research support.
Barbara Lochbihler and Milica Kolakovic-Bojovic, Vice-Chairs of the Committee and Co-Rapporteurs of this GC are expecting the draft to go for adoption in the next session of the Committee, to be held in September this year.
‘The many substantive comments received during the first round of consultations on the concept note allowed us to incorporate the views of many states and other stakeholders into the current draft, and we look forward to further comments and engagement with stakeholders in the lead-up to our September session’ says Milica Kolakovic-Bojovic.
‘The most important work will start then, when we will take the document from Geneva to the regions, communicating its meaning, importance and potential use. It is at the national level where this document will become most meaningful, and of course in the constructive dialogues, when it will guide the Committee in its questions and recommendations’ underlines Barbara Lochbihler.
‘We are now working with the Committee and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights towards the dissemination of this new General Comment and will soon publish a short research brief outlining how General Comments, and this one in particular, can help to make a change on the ground’ explains Felix Kirchmeier, Executive Director of the Geneva Human Rights Platform.
Geneva Academy
The Geneva Human Rights Platform has taken its work on strengthening the international human rights system to the heart of European policymaking.
Adobe
Our research brief, Neurotechnology and Human Rights: An Audit of Risks, Regulatory Challenges, and Opportunities, examines the human rights implications of neurotechnology in both therapeutic and commercial applications.
Adobe Stock
This seminar explores how national mechanisms for implementation, reporting and follow-up can better integrate the capacities, data, and experiences of local and regional governments in advancing human rights implementation and reporting.
Adobe Stock
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.
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.
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.
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.
Adobe
To unpack the challenges raised by artificial intelligence, this project will target two emerging and under-researched areas: digital military technologies and neurotechnology.
Geneva Academy