Event information

4 March 2022, 14:00-15:30

Downloads

Flyer >

Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) and Human Rights

Human Rights Conversations

High Level Segment of the 43rd Regular Session of the Human Rights Council. 25 February 2020. High Level Segment of the 43rd Regular Session of the Human Rights Council. 25 February 2020.

Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) is a movement encompassing scholars and practitioners of international law and policy who are concerned with issues related to the Global South in its broad conception.

While the scholarly agendas associated with TWAIL are diverse, the common themes of TWAIL’s interventions are to unpack and deconstruct the colonial legacies of international law. TWAIL is, as Makau Mutua writes: ‘a response to decolonization and the end of direct European colonial rule over non-Europeans. It basically describes a response to a condition, and is both reactive and proactive.’ Over the last twenty years, the TWAIL network has grown and flourished, encompassing thousands of people on all five continents.

This Human Rights Conversation aims at sensitising Western-centric stakeholders – both academics and practitioners active in multilateral fora – to legitimate criticism coming from the Global South through the so-called TWAIL movement. Panelists will notably discuss how to respond to theoretical arguments such as cultural relativism, which now permeate political dynamics and multilateral negotiations – making it increasingly harder to achieve (or sometimes even maintain) consensus.

To this end, this discussion will constitute an integral part of an ongoing research project at the Geneva Academy aimed at taking stock of and contributing to a better understanding of the various criticisms and tensions around the principle of universality of human rights, contrasting or reconciling different narratives.

Moderation

  • Felix Kirchmeier, Executive Director, Geneva Human Rights Platform

Panelists

  • Obiora C. Okafor, UN Independent Expert on International Solidarity and Edward B. Burling Chair in International Law and Institutions, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University
  • Fabia Fernandes Carvalho Vecoso, Postdoctoral Fellow with the Laureate Program in International Law, University of Melbourne and Member of the Editorial Collective of the TWAIL Review
  • Thamil Venthan Ananthavinayagan, Teaching Associate in International Human Rights Law, School of Law, University of Nottingham
  • Shyami Puvimanasinghe, Human Rights Officer, Right to Development Section, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Get Ready: Relevant Links

  • TWAIL Review Issue 02 (17 November 2021) which opens with articles from E. Tendayi Achiume, UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and Tamara Last on decolonial approaches to migration in southern Africa.

About Human Rights Conversations

Human Rights Conversations are a series of events, hosted by the Geneva Human Rights Platform, aimed at discussing contemporary issues and challenges related to the promotion and protection of human rights in Geneva and beyond.

Video

Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) and Human Rights

Watch this Human Rights Conversation aims at sensitising Western-centric stakeholders – both academics and practitioners active in multilateral fora – to legitimate criticism coming from the Global South through the so-called TWAIL movement.

 

MORE ON THIS THEMATIC AREA

neurotech image News

Human Rights Concerns in Neurotechnology Examined in New Research Brief

15 April 2025

Our research brief 'Neurotechnology - Integrating Human Rights in Regulation' examines the human rights challenges posed by the rapid development of neurotechnology.

Read more

Expert Roundtable on Opportunities for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Human Rights Monitoring News

Expert Roundtable on Opportunities for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Human Rights Monitoring

19 November 2024

The Geneva Human Rights Platform hosted an expert roundtable with the theme 'Opportunities for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Human Rights Monitoring.'

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

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

Neutrotechology Project

Neurotechnology and Human Rights

Started in August 2023

This project addresses the human rights implications stemming from the development of neurotechnology for commercial, non-therapeutic ends, and is based on a partnership between the Geneva Academy, the Geneva University Neurocentre and the UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee. 

Read more

Session of the UN Human Rights Committee Project

Treaty Body Review 2020 and Beyond

Started in January 2018

The Geneva Human Rights Platform contributes to this review process by providing expert input via different avenues, by facilitating dialogue on the review among various stakeholders, as well as by accompanying the development of a follow-up resolution to 68/268 in New York and in Geneva.

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