We use various third-party cookies to provide social media features and to analyze our traffic. Please use the options below to manage your cookie settings. You can change your cookie settings at any time. Please be aware, if you deny cookies, certain features of our website may not work.
This will apply to all services
Google Analytics
YouTube
Geneva Academy
25 May 2020
Building on a previous expert meeting on human rights in inclusive cities, this second online conference – co-organized by the Geneva Human Rights Platform, UN-Habitat, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Geneva Cities Hub in partnership with the World Blind Union, World Enabled and the General Assembly of Partners – focused on persons with disabilities (PWD) and older persons at the city level.
During two days around 60 experts – representatives of organizations of PWD, experts from United Nations (UN) and governmental agencies, members of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disability (CRPD) and the UN Special Rapporteur on persons with disabilities – analysed existing challenges and barriers for PWD and older persons in an urban context and made specific recommendations thereof. Where possible, participants also identified specific actions and interventions to incorporate into local policies.
‘Persons with disabilities and older persons continue to face barriers in their day to day activities and as such, there is an urgent need to develop solutions that meet their needs and remove these barriers’ underlines Kamelia Kemileva, Director a.i. of the Geneva Cities Hub.
‘Ensuring the accessibility of the online meeting to all was a key imperative for us. As such, closed captioning, simultaneous interpretation in three languages – French, English and Spanish – as well as sign language interpretation were provided’ explains Felix Kirchmeier, Executive Director of the Geneva Human Rights Platform.
‘The World Blind Union (WBU) appreciates the initiative by UN-Habitat to engage experts, such as organized constituencies of persons with disabilities, to generate learning and actionable recommendations critical for UN-Habitat to accelerate mainstreaming throughout its operations, programmes and UN inter-agency coordination to create more inclusive cities’ says Hannes Juhlin Lagrelius, WBU Program Officer and Co-Chair of the General Assembly of Partners-Partner Constituent Groups of Persons with Disabilities.
This meeting, financed by the Swedish International Development Acency (SIDA) through UN Habitat, is the second of a series that aims at developing operational documents to translate human rights standards at the city level for local governments, city-level practitioners and decision-makers, as well as national governments interested in local governance issues.
The next meeting, concluding this series, will focus on gender aspects in cities. The outcome documents of these three conferences will be available publicly at the end of the series.
News
Geneva Academy
While applications with a scholarship for our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law just closed, interested candidates can still apply until 25 February without a scholarship.
News
UNIDO
Our new Working Paper examines existing mechanisms at the national, regional and international levels for holding states accountable for their performance in implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Short Course
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.
Training
Dustan Woodhouse, Unplash
This training course will explore the major international and regional instruments for the promotion of human rights, as well as with their implementation and enforcement mechanisms; and provide practical insights into the different UN human rights mechanisms pertinent to advancing environmental issues and protecting environmental human rights defenders.
Project
Olivier Chamard / Geneva Academy
The Treaty Body Members’ Platform connects experts in UN treaty bodies with each other as well as with Geneva-based practitioners, academics and diplomats to share expertise, exchange views on topical questions and develop synergies.
Project
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.
Publication
