A Practitioners' Guide on Human Rights and Countering Corruption

Completed in December 2021

Corruption has been identified throughout the United Nations (UN) system as one of the main challenges to sustainable development and the realization of human rights.

The UN Human Rights Council (HRC) recognized that ‘transparent, responsible, accountable, open and participatory government, responsive to the needs and aspirations of the people, is the foundation on which good governance rests, and that such a foundation is one of the indispensable conditions for the full realization of human rights’. Additionally, as the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) finds, a number of international documents signed under the auspices of both the UN and regional organizations have acknowledged the negative effects of corruption on the protection of human rights and on development.

This research project, conducted in partnership with OHCHR and the Centre for Civil and Political Rights, aimed at clarifying the conceptual relationship between human rights, good governance and anticorruption, demonstrating the negative impact of corruption on human rights, and providing guidance for effectively using the UN human rights system in anti-corruption efforts.

NEWS

Anti-corruption poster News

A New Guide Outlines the Potential of UN Human Rights Mechanisms in Countering Corruption

15 October 2019

Published by the Geneva Academy and the Centre for Civil and Political Rights, this guide explores how a human rights-based approach can be used to complement and strengthen anti-corruption efforts.

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OUTPUT

A Practitioners’ Guide on Human Rights and Countering Corruption

Published by the Geneva Academy and the Centre for Civil and Political Rights (CCPR Centre),  the Practitioners’ Guide on Human Rights and Countering Corruption intends to serve as a user-friendly practitioners’ manual and strategic advocacy tool to explore how a human rights-based approach, with its focus on the victims of corruption and state responsibility, can be used to complement and strengthen anti-corruption efforts.

To this end, it focuses primarily on how UN human rights mechanisms can be better used to report on corruption issues, and it provides guidance as well as practical recommendations on effectively integrating human rights into anti-corruption efforts.

This Guide is the outcome of research, several conferences and consultations carried out in partnership with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and is based on a draft initiated by OHCHR. The Guide also received several inputs from legal and corruption experts, academics, NGO representatives and OHCHR staff. Its production has been possible thanks to the continued support by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.

Publications

Anti-corruption poster

Practitioners’ Guide on Human Rights and Countering Corruption

October 2019

Geneva Academy and CCPR Centre

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Past Events

Human rights, gender and corruption: linkages, good practices, potential and limitations

18 December 2019, 13:00-14:00

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Launch of the Practitioners' Guide on Human Rights and Countering Corruption

17 September 2019, 12:00-13:00

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MORE ON THIS THEMATIC AREA

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Fund an LLM Scholarship and Contribute to our One-Month Crowdfunding Campaign

1 December 2022

We are launching today a one-month crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for a scholarship to allow a talented European student with limited means and resources to follow our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights.

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Experts Discuss the Use of Open-Source Information to Document IHL and Human Rights Violations

10 January 2023

A one-day consultation aimed at discussing with a variety of experts the challenges, opportunities and best practices arising from an increased reliance on open source information in accountability processes.

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Cover page of the Commentary Event

Taking Stock: Women’s Rights and Gender-Based Discrimination under Scrutiny at the International Level

12 May 2023, 10:00-12:00

This event marks the publication of the second, fully revised and updated, edition of ‘The UN Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol. A Commentary’.

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Portrait of Magistrate Roberto Vidal Event

Taking Stock of Five Years of Work at the Special Jurisdiction for Peace: Challenges and Achievements

31 March 2023, 18:30-20:00

In this discussion co-organized with the Permanent Mission of Colombia to the UN in Geneva, the President of Colombia's Special Jurisdiction for Peace Magistrate Roberto Vidal will discuss the challenges and achievements of this body.

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Open dump Training

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11-15 September 2023

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.

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Garment workersto receive food from their factory during lunch time. This food is freely provided by their factory in order to ensure that workers eat healthy and hygienic food. Training

Business and Human Rights

4-8 September 2023

This training course will focus on the most efficient human rights mechanisms – at national and international levels – to promote and protect human rights in the private sector and address corporations’ human rights abuses.

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George Floyd protest in Washington D.C. Project

Promoting and Protecting the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association and Civic Space Worldwide

Started in June 2020

This project aims at providing support to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association Clément Voulé by addressing emerging issues affecting civic space and eveloping tools and materials allowing various stakeholders to promote and defend civic space.

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Mine Project

Business, Human Rights and Conflict-Affected Regions

Completed in July 2021

This project aimed at identifying and clarifying policies and practices for states and businesses, including public and private investors, across the full ‘conflict cycle’ and the ‘protect, respect and remedy’ pillars of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

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Cover of the publication Publication

The Emergence of Digital Human Rights Tracking Tools and Databases

published on March 2023

Domenico Zipoli

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