Geneva Academy
25 September 2018
The two coordinators of the Academic Platform on Treaty Body Review 2020, Felix Kirchmeier and Kamelia Kemileva, presented our publication ‘Optimizing the UN Treaty Bodies System’ at an informal meeting of the European Union (EU) Working Party on Human Rights (COHOM).
At this meeting, held in Vienna under the auspices of the EU’s Austrian Presidency, they shared with human rights experts from capitals and EU diplomats the main findings and recommendations entailed in the publications and discussed the UN treaty bodies strengthening process.
‘It’s a great opportunity for us to share the conclusions of a three-year consultative process with the body that handles all human rights aspects of EU’s external relations and that supports the EU Council's decision-making process in this area’ stresses Kamelia Kemileva.
‘Diplomats welcomed our independent approach, grounded in academic research and free from vested interests and institutional limitations, and recognized its key contribution to the 2020 process’ underlines Felix Kirchmeier.

The Academic Platform on Treaty Body Review 2020 forms part of the Geneva Human Rights Platform (HRP).
The HRP provides a neutral and dynamic forum of interaction in Geneva for all stakeholders in the field of human rights – experts, practitioners, diplomats and civil society – to discuss and debate topical issues and challenges. Relying on academic research and findings, it works to enable various actors to be better connected, break silos, and, hence, advance human rights.
News
Adam Cohn
This project forms part of our research cluster on sustainable development that aims to explore the linkages between sustainable development, the protection of the environment, climate change and the branches of international law that protect the rights of the most vulnerable.
News
Geneva Academy
The report of the first focused review pilot conducted in Sierra Leone shows the benefits that such a mechanism could bring to the work of UN treaty bodies and the implementation of their recommendations.
Short Course
ICRC
This short course, which can be followed in Geneva or online, focuses on the specific issues that arise in times of armed conflict regarding the respect, protection and fulfilment of human rights. It addresses key issues like the applicability of human rights in times of armed conflict; the possibilities of restricting human rights under systems of limitations and derogations; and the extraterritorial application of human rights law.
Training
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.
Project
Adam Cohn
This research project, aimed via the drafting of a practitioners’ guide on human rights and countering corruption, to clarify the conceptual relationship between human rights, good governance and anticorruption, demonstrate the negative impact of corruption on human rights and provide guidance and make practical recommendations for effectively using the UN human rights system in anti-corruption efforts.
Project
kris krüg
We are a partner of the Human Rights, Big Data and Technology Project, housed at the University of Essex’s Human Rights Centre, which aims to map and analyse the human rights challenges and opportunities presented by the use of big data and associated technologies. It notably examines whether fundamental human rights concepts and approaches need to be updated and adapted to meet the new realities of the digital age.
Publication