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Geneva Academy>
25 November 2024
The 2024 Annual Conference of the Geneva Human Rights Platform (GHRP), held on 5 November at Maison de la Paix, focused on the theme Human Rights System Under Pressure: A Reason to Expand Connectivity.
In a time of growing global challenges, the event brought together participants from international organizations, academia, civil society, and diplomatic missions to examine how enhanced connectivity can strengthen the human rights system and its intersections with other policy fields.
Felix Kirchmeier, Director of the GHRP, stated ‘The complexities of today’s global challenges mean that connectivity is not just a concept; it is the way forward for an effective human rights system.’ (An interview with Felix Kirchmeier about the conference - in French - can be found on the Radio Cité Genève website)
This year’s conference provided innovative perspectives on challenges ranging from technological governance to environmental peacebuilding through contributions from sister platforms, including the Geneva Internet Platform, Global Cities Hub, Geneva Environment Network, Global Health Platform, and Geneva Peacebuilding Platform.
The discussions also drew on insights of both new and long-standing partners of the GHRP, such as the OHCHR, the Danish Institute for Human Rights, the Pacific Community - SPC, UNDP, the International Commission of Jurists, HURIDOCS, Earthjustice, and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Their contributions brought additional depth to the event, showcasing diverse approaches to human rights challenges across sectors and regions.
The conference opened with remarks by Prof. Marie-Laure Salles, Director of the Geneva Graduate Institute, and Barbara Fontana, Head of the Human Rights Section at the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN in Geneva, who highlighted the importance of Geneva’s multilateral ecosystem in fostering collaborative solutions. Felix Kirchmeier, Executive Director of the GHRP, set the stage by reflecting on the mounting pressures on the human rights system, including financial constraints, geopolitical instability, and the waning of political support for multilateralism.
The keynote address by Prof. Philip Alston, John Norton Pomeroy Professor of Law at NYU, delved into these challenges, emphasizing the risks of fragmentation and the need to reinvigorate multilateral cooperation. Prof. Alston urged participants to see human rights not as an isolated framework but as a dynamic tool for addressing interconnected global crises such as climate change, technological transformation, and public health emergencies. In this context, UN human rights mechanisms can not only perform their protective function, but also act as pathways for magnifying voices from the ground.
The keynote was followed by an academic plenary panel discussing the deadlock of multilateralism and how human rights can advance different policy fields, moderated by Janet Anderson, founder and co-host of the Asymmetrical Haircuts podcast, and Felix Kirchmeier, Executive Director of the GHRP. On the panel were Prof. Philip Alston, NYU Law, Prof. Suerie Moon, Geneva Graduate Institute, and Prof. Jorge E. Viñuales, University of Cambridge.
Human Rights and Digital Governance in Smart Cities
This workshop examined the intersection of urban digitalization, AI, and human rights, stressing the need for ethical regulations to prevent inequalities and safeguard freedoms. Insights from the Geneva Internet Platform, Global Cities Hub, ITU, OHCHR, the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN in Geneva and the Wallonia-Brussels General Delegation in Geneva highlighted ways to bridge innovation with rights-based governance. Discussions centred on leveraging global frameworks like the UN Global Digital Compact and ITU smart city standards to support inclusive urban transformation. Participants emphasized citizen engagement, particularly of marginalized groups, and the importance of transparency and accessibility to ensure no one is left behind.
Global Health and Human Rights
Amid ongoing negotiations for the WHO’s ‘Pandemic Treaty,’ this workshop examined how global health policies can embed human rights principles to address inequities. Supported by the Global Health Platform and partners such as the International Commission of Jurists, discussions focused on ensuring accountability, equitable healthcare access, and the protection of socio-economic rights in health emergencies. Speakers from WHO, Just Fair UK and the Global Health Centre focused on the human rights impacts of public health emergencies, the relevance of ESC rights on access to medicines, the importance of inclusion of human rights considerations in pandemic preparedness plans.
Environmental Rights and Conflict Prevention
This panel examined the links between environmental degradation, human rights, and conflict. Speakers from the Geneva School of Social Sciences, Geneva Graduate Institute, UNEP, Zoï Environment Network, and Earthjustice highlighted how violations of environmental rights, such as access to food and water, drive resource competition and instability, with examples from Africa and the Middle East. They emphasized rights-based, people-centred approaches to prevent conflict and stressed the need for effective early-warning systems and systematic tracking of environmental human rights violations. The discussion underscored the role of environmental rights in peacebuilding, reflecting on the UN's recognition of the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as a key tool for conflict prevention.
Digital Tools for Monitoring Human Rights and SDGs
This session highlighted the transformative potential of digital human rights tracking tools in bridging human rights monitoring with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Speakers from HURIDOCS, UNDP, Pacific Community - SPC, Danish Institute for Human Rights, and OHCHR shared best practices in using digital solutions to monitor the implementation of international human rights recommendations and SDG targets. These discussions built on the GHRP’s ongoing initiative, Digital Human Rights Tracking Tools and Databases, which promotes interoperability, innovation, and collaboration in this field.
The conference concluded with a high-level inter-agency panel titled Human Rights Connectivity, which brought together senior representatives from leading UN agencies to discuss how human rights inform their respective mandates and the importance of inter-agency collaboration in addressing global challenges. Moderated by Felix Kirchmeier, Executive Director of the GHRP, and Virginia Brás Gomes, GHRP Advisory Board Member, the session underscored the importance of inter-agency collaboration in addressing global challenges.
The panel featured:
This session explored shared challenges multilateral organizations face in integrating human rights across diverse policy areas, emphasizing collaboration for unified global responses. Moderators highlighted the need to strengthen connections between human rights and other fields, aligning with the conference's theme of expanding connectivity. Panellists reaffirmed their commitment to breaking silos and leveraging human rights frameworks to tackle complex global challenges.
The 2024 GHRP Annual Conference reaffirmed the Platform’s commitment to innovation and collaboration, offering pathways to strengthen the human rights system in an era of unprecedented challenges.
As the GHRP already makes plans for the 2025 Annual Conference, the team is proud to announce that the 2026 GHRP Annual Conference will include hosting the Annual Conference of the Association of Human Rights Institutes (AHRI) at the background of the 60th anniversaries of the ESCR and CCPR Covenants and the 20 years of the UN Human Rights Council.
News
Geneva Academy
The Geneva Human Rights Platform hosted an expert roundtable with the theme 'Opportunities for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Human Rights Monitoring.'
News
Geneva Academy
The 2024 Annual Conference of the Geneva Human Rights Platform (GHRP), held on 5 November at Maison de la Paix, focused on the theme Human Rights System Under Pressure: A Reason to Expand Connectivity.
Training
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré
This executive course, tailored for Geneva-based diplomats and co-organized with the support of the Swiss FDFA, addresses the negotiation practices at the multilateral level, by taking the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council as an example of formal and informal negotiation and decision-making processes by an international intergovernmental body.
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
Olivier Chamard/Geneva Academy
Publication
Geneva Academy
