UN Photo/Pierre Albouy
Alongside New York, Geneva is the main centre of international governance. It is the European headquarters of the United Nations (UN) and the most active location in the world in multilateral diplomacy. Home to dozens of international organizations, more than 250 NGOs and 174 state representations, Geneva is also a human rights (HR) and humanitarian hub.
With the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the UN Human Rights Council, secretariats of all UN treaty bodies, leading human rights NGOs and renowned experts, the city offers an exceptional platform for HR diplomacy.
Key humanitarian actors work from Geneva to promote respect for international humanitarian law (IHL), ensure humanitarian protection and assistance for victims of armed conflict and address the humanitarian aspects of disarmament. These include the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), International Organization for Migration (IOM), UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Médicins sans Frontières (MSF).
The Geneva Academy has developed close collaborations with Geneva-based HR and humanitarian actors and regularly welcomes their experts to events, policy discussions and taught sessions. Our research cooperates with them on many levels, advancing understanding and stimulating debate in policy-making institutions and government on IHL, HR protection, transitional justice or weapons law.
Thanks to these collaborations, our master’s programmes offer students numerous internship and networking opportunities, which allow them to gain practical experience and make useful contacts for their careers.
We are a leading education institution in international humanitarian law, human rights and transitional justice.
Our research examines issues that are under-explored, need clarification, or are unconventional, experimental or challenging.
Our publications address current issues and challenges and stimulate debates in the academic community and in policy-making institutions and governments.
We provide training and short courses for professionals who want to deepen their expertise in a specific issue.
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OUP
This new book, edited by the two Co-Directors of our Master of Advanced Studies in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law, Frank Haldemann and Thomas Unger, provides an unmatched analysis of the United Nations Principles to Combat Impunity.
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Olivier Chamard / Geneva Academy
During one week, from 19 to 23 March, practitioners, scholars, experts and students from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines discussed the roles that memory, culture and history play in dealing with a violent past and in preventing recurrence of atrocities.
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Geneva Academy
In 2017, 55 situations of armed violence amounted to armed conflicts according to the definitions under international humanitarian law and international criminal law. The vast majority were non-international armed conflicts, as in preceding years. The analysis highlights two salient features: the multiplication of armed non-state actors and unprecedented casualties linked to armed gang violence.
