25-26 November 2021
Register start 30 September 2021
Register end 25 November 2021
Event
Tim Mossholder, Unsplash
While discriminations and inequalities have always been a subject of international concern, the trend in recent years indicates an increase rather than a decrease of the phenomenon. This tendency has been further aggravated by the COVID 19 pandemic, despite the fact that the prohibition of discrimination is well-entrenched in international human rights law and appears high on the agenda of the international community.
The two-day Scientific Colloquium of the 2021 Human Rights Week will explore the different facets of discrimination and inequalities and will discuss their human rights impact in our contemporary world. Experts, academics, and practitioners as well as young scholars will discuss four main issues:
The Human Rights Week is one of the key events in Geneva that addresses contemporary challenges and issues in the field of human rights. The 2021 edition will discuss – via conferences, debates, film screenings, exhibitions, artistic performances, and the scientific colloquium – the question of discrimination and inequalities.
During one week, experts, practitioners, artists, students, academics, diplomats, and civil society representatives will exchange around this issue, debate, identify solutions and raise awareness about ongoing discriminatory practices and inequalities.
This major event is organized by the University of Geneva, in partnership with the Geneva Academy, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the Republic and Canton of Geneva, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Geneva International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights and Les Créatives.
The Scientific Colloquium has been organized by the Scientific Committee of the Human Rights Week, whose members are:
Geneva Academy
In 2021, the Geneva Human Rights Platform developed and launched a new online tool for all UN treaty body members to interact online as a community of practice, consult each other, collaborate on tasks, connect to share news and information, and contribute material to a resource library
UNDP Bangladesh
The expert meeting, organized with the Roma Tre University Law Department, focused on the content of the second issue paper of the International Law Commission Working Group which deals with the protection of persons affected by sea-level rise and statehood.
IsaaK Alexandre KaRslian, Unsplash
This event aims at raising international awareness on the human rights situation of women and girls in Afghanistan and propose
recommendations for effective action by the international community.
OHCHR
This event marks the official launch of the updated Istanbul Protocol, with Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, together with representatives of the core UN anti-torture mechanisms and other international human rights bodies.
ICRC
This short course, which can be followed in Geneva or online, will provide participants with an introduction to substantive human rights law. It will start with an introduction to the nature and sources of international human rights law and its place in the international legal system. The course will then provide a presentation of the main principles applicable to substantive rights (jurisdiction, obligation and limitations).
UN Photo
This short course, which can be followed in Geneva or online, analyses the main international and regional norms governing the international protection of refugees. It notably examines the sources of international refugee law, including the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and their interaction with human rights law and international humanitarian law.
Paolo Margari
This research aims at mainstreaming the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment and the protection it affords in the work of the UN Human Rights Council, its Special Procedures and Universal Periodic Review, as well as in the work of the UN General Assembly and UN treaty bodies.
UN Photo
This research aims at taking stock of and contributing to a better understanding of the above-mentioned challenges to the principle of universality of human rights while also questioning their validity. It will identify relevant political and legal arguments and develop counter-narratives that could be instrumental to dealing with and/or overcoming the polarization of negotiations processes at the multilateral level.