17 January 2022
Charlotte Volet graduated from our Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law in 2020.
She is currently working as a Programme Officer at Lawyers Without Borders Canada in Québec City, where she contributes to the operationalization of projects in Honduras and Colombia. She works on various projects with a gender perspective aiming at promoting access to justice, transitional justice mechanisms and the protection of victims of human trafficking.
In addition, Charlotte is also a board member of the NGO Projet Accompagnement Québec-Guatemala, with whom she had the opportunity to be an international accompanier for Guatemalan indigenous communities defending their land rights against extractive companies back in 2018.
In this interview, she tells about the programme and what it brought to her career.
Geneva Academy
The main strength of the programme is definitely the community it creates. The small number of students allowed the professors to experiment and bring us to their own world. It also gave space for students to contribute to the learning experience of their peers and to the evolution of the programme itself. I had the chance to attend classes with 24 amazing professionals, almost all women, who taught me as much as my professors did.
Another important strength is the multidisciplinary approach. Transitional justice is a field where a variety of expertise is necessary, from psychosocial intervention to anthropology, law, politics or history. Having classes with these different approaches provides an overall understanding of post-conflict justice.
I think the methods of teaching were varied and focused on enabling wider discussions between the students and the professors and, at times, with external specialists and civil society actors involved in transitional processes.
I thoroughly enjoyed learning as much from the professors than from my peers. It fostered an atmosphere of respect and empathy that enabled critical discussions on ethical matters. I also appreciated the flexibility of our directors and professors, especially when the pandemic hit, which showcased the level of humanity by which this programme is led.
One of the best memories I keep from the programme is our study trip to Kosovo, organized by the student committee and our wonderful friend and colleague Valëza, herself from Kosovo.
We truly benefited from a once in a lifetime experience being able to meet the first Kosovar women Speaker of Parliament — now President — as well as the Minister of Justice from what was at the time the newly formed government. We also had the chance to exchange with civil society organizations and survivors about the undergoing post-war transitional justice effort.
The programme sharpened my critical point of view on justice and my analytical skills to assess post-conflict contexts, two skills that now help me grasp quickly the many components to take into account while dealing in transitional contexts.
From my peers and professors, I learned creative and diverse ways justice can be reached for survivors of human rights violations. I think the most important lesson I have kept is the importance of involving survivors and communities affected by human rights violations in the creation of transitional justice mechanisms for these to be effective.
I work in the management team of projects related to the protection of human rights, the rule of law and transitional justice. The analytical skills I acquired help me better understand the reason, purpose, and goals of the activities we are involved in and have a better understanding of the general political and human rights context in which they take place.
Moreover, the critical point of view of transitional justice efforts I acquired during the programme also helps me assess the impact Lawyers Without Borders Canada’s activities can have on the communities involved in the projects.
Yes, I would recommend the programme for any professional interested in a critical and multidisciplinary approach to the field of transitional justice and wanting to learn from a variety of passionate experts in the field about the intricacies of post-conflict justice.
Geneva Academy
Applications for the 2023–2024 academic year of our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law are open. They will run until 27 January 2023 for applications with a scholarship and until 24 February 2023 for applications without a scholarship.
Adobe
Our new Briefing The Universality of Human Rights: Developing Narratives to Overcome Polarization zooms into the main challenges that the idea of universality faces nowadays and seeks to offer some elements to devise a more consequential and effective narrative of human rights universality to overcome these challenges.
ICRC
This online short course 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.
Adobe
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.
Gorodenkoff/Adobe
This project facilitated a multistakeholder consultative process to identify knowledge gaps, generate new evidence and co-design evidence-based tools to support regulatory and policy responses to human rights challenges linked to digital technologies.
Olivier Chamard/Geneva Academy
Canva
Geneva Academy