Event information

19 September 2024, 14:00-15:00

Downloads

Flyer >

Xenophobia and its Impact on Human Rights in Migration: Launching of the CERD-CMW Joint General Comment/Recommendation Consultation Phase

Event

Xenophobia Side Event Xenophobia Side Event

This side event to the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council is co-organized by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and the Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW), in partnership with the Graduate Institute's Global Migration Centre, The Geneva Human Rights Platform of the Geneva Academy, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Additionally, this event is co-sponsored by UN Women, and the Permanent Missions of Australia, Colombia, and Mexico.

It will provide an overview of the process leading to the CERD-CMW joint general recommendation/comment on the eradication of xenophobia and its impact on the rights of migrants. The event will also reflect on the broad political consensus and support to this process.

CERD and CMW are currently developing a joint general recommendation/comment (GR/GC) on comprehensive public policies for addressing and eradicating xenophobia and its impact on the rights of migrants, their families and other non-nationals (or perceived as such) affected by racial and all intersecting grounds of discrimination.

This important joint initiative of the two UN Committees aims to adopt "authoritative guidance" for States parties, based on the Committees' normative mandate within International Human Rights Law. The GR/GC will be directed to guide public policies for comprehensively addressing one of the more pressing challenges in a world where human mobility has become a structural, multidimensional phenomenon that is increasingly shaping societies and communities.

The Concept Note and Questionnaire prepared by the Committees and all submissions received during the first consultative phase can be found here. The second consultative phase will be carried out from September to November 2024, through global, regional and thematic expert consultations.

Moderators

  • Pablo Ceriani Cernadas, Vice Chair, Committee on Migrant Workers
  • Ibrahima Guissé, Member of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Panelists

  • H.E. Omar Zniber, President of the UN Human Rights Council, and Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Morocco to the UN in Geneva
  • H.E. Emily Roper, Deputy Permanent Representative of Australia to the UN in Geneva
  • H.E. Fernando Israel Espinosa Olivera, Deputy Permanent Representative of Mexico to the UN in Geneva
  • Adriana Quinones, Head of Human Rights and Development, UN Women Geneva
  • Benyam Mezmur, Member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
  • Stéphane Jaquemet, COO and Director of Policy, International Catholic Migration Commission
  • Professor Vincent Chetail, Director of the Global Migration Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute

MORE ON THIS THEMATIC AREA

GHRP Diplomat Training News

Strengthening Diplomacy: GHRP Training Course Enhances Engagement with UN Human Rights

5 February 2025

The GHRP’s annual training equipped 19 diplomats with key insights into the UN Human Rights Council’s mechanisms and multilateral processes.

Read more

News

New Working Paper Explores AI for Human Rights and SDG Monitoring

30 January 2025

A new working paper, 'AI Decoded: Key Concepts and Applications of Artificial Intelligence for Human Rights and SDG Monitoring', has been published by the Geneva Human Rights Platform.

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

Local Government Event

Enhancing National Reporting and Implementation of Human Rights through Coordinated Engagement at the Local and Regional Levels: The Role of NMIRFs

23 July 2025, 10:00-17:00

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.

Read more

Universal Declaration of Human Rights Booklet Training

The International Human Rights Standards and System: Monitoring and Implementation Strategies at the National Level

7-11 July 2025

This training course will delve into the means and mechanisms through which national actors can best coordinate their human rights monitoring and implementation efforts, enabling them to strategically navigate the UN human rights system and use the various mechanisms available in their day-to-day 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

Project

Follow-up Review Pilot Series

Started in November 2021

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

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

Cover Page of Research Brief Publication

United Nations Treaty Body Individual Communications Procedures: What Is at Stake in the Strengthening Process?

published on October 2024

Claire Callejon

Read more