Geneva Academy
18 June 2019
At a meeting co-organized with the permanent missions of Costa Rica and Japan to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, Geneva-based diplomats discussed the current status of the 2020 review of UN treaty bodies (TBs), upcoming milestones, as well as the proposals submitted by various stakeholders, including states, members of TBs, NGOs and academics.
‘Short inputs from all stakeholders informed the discussion and showed a promising amount of convergence in positions, both on the fundamental aim of any review – the strengthening of human rights protection – as well as on the concrete and specific measures such as the alignment of working methods of TBs. A majority of states present also agreed on the merit of clustering state reports and dialogues, as a means to avoid unnecessary overlap in structure and substance’ explains Felix Kirchmeier, Coordinator of the Geneva Human Rights Platform.
‘These proposals will inform the third and final report of the UN Secretary-General, which will formulate a series of recommendations to strengthen the work of UN TBs and will constitute the main source of information for delegations who will negotiate the follow-up resolution to 68/268 next spring ’ stresses Felix Kirchmeier.
The 2020 review is a unique occasion to improve the work of UN TBs.
‘While TBs are based in Geneva, the negotiations are taking place in New York. It is therefore essential to feed the negotiations in New York with the expertise we have in Geneva’ underlines Felix Kirchmeier.
ITU
Our event brought together human rights practitioners, data scientists, and AI experts to explore how artificial intelligence can support efforts to monitor human rights and the Sustainable Development Goals.
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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.
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This evening dialogue will present the publication: International Human Rights Law: A Treatise, Cambridge University Press (2025).
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This side event will bring together stakeholders to discuss the growing concerning recurrence to short-term enforced disappearances worldwide, and the challenges they pose for victims and accountability.
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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.
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.
UN Photo/Violaine Martin
The IHL-EP works to strengthen the capacity of human rights mechanisms to incorporate IHL into their work in an efficacious and comprehensive manner. By so doing, it aims to address the normative and practical challenges that human rights bodies encounter when dealing with cases in which IHL applies.
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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.