49 Professionals Started our Executive Master in Geneva and Online

14 October 2021

The 49 professionals enrolled in our Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict have just started their programme. Fourteen will attend classes in person while 35 others will do so online.

During nine months, they will deepen their knowledge of the law applicable to armed conflicts via 16 courses covering international law, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, international refugee law and international criminal law, as well as on contemporary issues and challenges like terrorism or the responsibility to protect.

‘At the end of the programme, participants will not only master the various legal frameworks applying during and following armed conflicts, but they will also be able to understand their interplay and application in contemporary situations’ explains Professor Gloria Gaggioli, Director of the Geneva Academy.

‘Today’s armed conflicts are becoming more and more complex. For humanitarian and human rights practitioners – working in the field or at the multilateral level –, understanding the rules governing these conflicts is key to develop a comprehensive analysis of a given context and devise appropriate solutions’ she adds.

The 49 participants come from 33 different countries and work for the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the World Food Programme, Amnesty International, Doctors without Borders or for several permanent missions in Geneva.

Two participants who follow the programme in person are enrolled via the University of Geneva’s Horizon académique programme which promotes the professional integration of refugees and migrants.

‘We have a variety of profiles and backgrounds – diplomats, ICRC delegates, lawyers, legal advisers, communication specialists, or experts in counter-terrorism or criminal law – that brings a tremendous richness for the exchanges and discussions in class. This allows participants not only to reflect upon and apply the legal concepts discussed in class to their daily work but also listen to different positions, arguments and approaches’ underlines Professor Gaggioli.

Classes take place from Wednesdays to Fridays from 12:00 to 14:00, allowing participants who are in the same time zone to follow courses during their lunch break. Participants in the field unable to follow the live classes have access to the recordings of the sessions.

‘Our participants are all professionals with demanding jobs and responsibilities. It is therefore key to ensure that they can follow this intensive programme with the less-possible impact on their professional life’ says Dany Diogo, Coordinator of the Master’s Programme.

‘We are conscious that participants need to absorb a lot of concepts, readings and new knowledge in a very short time and in addition to their regular job. This is why we have extended the support provided via tutorials at the end of each course and right before the exams. Extracurricular sessions on legal writing and research also prepare participants for the writing of their master’s paper’ he adds.

The Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict is one of the few part-time, innovative and intellectually challenging programmes in the law of armed conflict offered today.

Designed for professionals, it provides strong theoretical and practical knowledge and responds to the growing need for specialists to address complex contemporary conflicts.

This executive programme – which can be followed in Geneva or online – runs for nine months (beginning of October until the end of June) and admits around 40 practitioners annually. After the end of the courses and exams in June, participants have one additional semester to submit a master’s paper.