2024 Annual Conference of the Geneva Human Rights Platform

GHRP Annual Conference

Geneva Human Rights Platform Flag on Bridge in Geneva Geneva Human Rights Platform Flag on Bridge in Geneva
GCH logo GCH logo GCH logo GCH logo GCH logo GCH logo
GCH logo GCH logo GCH logo GCH logo GCH logo GCH logo GCH logo

Human Rights System under pressure: a reason to expand connectivity

This public event, aimed at the international community both within and beyond Geneva—including diplomats, experts, NGOs, UN agency staff, international organizations, National Human Rights Institutions, and academics—will focus on the pressing issues and challenges confronting Geneva-based actors in the field of human rights.

The human rights system is currently facing unprecedented pressure. A financial crisis threatens the functionality of UN human rights bodies, with significant implications for the work carried out by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Additionally, the deteriorating global situation is creating or intensifying human rights crises, while political support for human rights continues to wane, leading to a growing perception that the UN Human Rights System is failing to deliver on its promises in specific country contexts.

This perceived failure is particularly stark as the world recently commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights described the UDHR as a map containing “the steps that would build societies that would be more fair, more equal and therefore more resilient.” Yet, at this critical juncture, calls to 'rescue' human rights by refocusing on 'core human rights' have emerged, drawing parallels to the concept of a 'human rights réduit'—a notion wisely abandoned by Switzerland's security policy over a decade ago.

Despite the challenges, human rights remain the guiding principles that unite humanity and offer a path through the current crises, as recently emphasized by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. In these turbulent times, the interconnections between human rights and various policy areas are becoming increasingly evident, including global health, internet governance and new technologies, environmental issues, and climate change.

As human rights intersect with a wide range of policy domains, the Sixth Annual Conference of the Geneva Human Rights Platform will delve into these connections. The conference aims to explore how the strength and potential of human rights can be harnessed to benefit the work of other actors, even those who may not traditionally view human rights protection as their primary mission.

The ‘Annual Conference of the Geneva Human Rights Platform’, was established in 2019 and is dedicated to the concept of connectivity in the field of human rights. Earlier conferences discussed the connectivity among UN human rights mechanisms,connectivity between regional and UN human rights mechanisms (2020) and connectivity between national human rights actors and UN human rights mechanisms (2021), the 2022 Annual Conference addressed the theme of digital connectivity while the 2023 Annual Conference addressed the connectivity between the UN policy hubs of Geneva and New York, in terms of human rights policy, and was therefore organized exceptionally in New York.

The 2024 edition will focus on the connectivity between the manifold policy areas addressed in Geneva, in their human rights dimensions. To this end, panels are co-organized with specific organizations on the human rights aspects in various policy areas.

Please register for the event with this form.

Draft Programme

Tuesday 5th November

9.15 - 9:30 Opening

  • Prof. Marie-Laure Salles, Director, Geneva Graduate Institute
  • H.E. Jürg Lauber, Swiss Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva
  • Felix Kirchmeier, Executive Director of the GHRP

9:30 - 10:00 Keynote

  • Prof. Philip Alston, John Norton Pomeroy Professor of Law, NYU Law

10:00 - 11:00 Academic plenary panel - The deadlock of multilateralism – how can human rights advance different policy fields?

Moderation:

  • Janet Anderson, Founder + Co-host of Asymmetrical Haircuts
  • Felix Kirchmeier, Executive Director of the GHRP

Panel:

  • Prof. Philip Alston, John Norton Pomeroy Professor of Law, NYU Law
  • Prof. Suerie Moon, Professor of Practice, Interdisciplinary Programmes and International Relations/Political Science, Geneva Graduate Institute, and Co-Director, Global Health Centre
  • Prof. Jorge E. Viñuales, Harold Samuel Chair of Law and Environmental Policy at the University of Cambridge and founding Director of the Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance (C-EENRG)

11:00 - 12.30 Workshops (incl. coffee break) co-organized with other ‘Geneva Platforms’

  1. Human Rights in the Age of Digital Innovation: Regulating AI and technology in Smart Cities
  2. Human Rights in Global Health policies
  3. Human Rights in Preventing Environmental Triggers to Conflict
  4. Human Rights and Sustainable Development: Advancing Monitoring and Collaboration Through Digital Tools

12:30 - 13:30 Lunch

13:30 - 15:00 High-level inter-agency panel on human rights

In this panel discussion, which closes the 2024 Annual Conference of the Geneva Human Rights Platform, high-level representatives of various UN agencies are invited to reflect upon where human rights are present in their mandates, policies and programs, and what further input and guidance they would welcome from the human rights system.

Introduction:

  • Nada Al-Nashif, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, OHCHR

Panel:

  • Nada Al-Nashif, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, OHCHR
  • Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary-General, ITU
  • Catharina Boehme, Assistant Director-General, WHO
  • Agi Veres, Director, UNDP Geneva Representation office
  • Arnold Kreilhuber, Regional Director, Europe Office, UNEP

Moderation:

  • Prof. Paola Gaeta, Professor of International Law at the Geneva Graduate Institute and Director of the Geneva Academy and Felix Kirchmeier, Executive Director, GHRP, Geneva Academy

MORE ON THIS THEMATIC AREA

GHRP Annual Conference 2024 News

GHRP Annual Conference 2024 Strengthens Connectivity in a Pressured Human Rights System

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.

Read more

GHRP in Davos News

AI and Human Rights in the Intelligent Age: GHRP in Davos

3 February 2025

The Geneva Human Rights Platform contributed to key discussions on AI, human rights, and sustainable digital governance at the World Economic Forum 2025.

Read more

Portrait of Alain Berset Event

Le Conseil de l'Europe - Une mission-clé pour l'Europe et le monde

24 February 2025, 18:00-19:30

In this public lecture Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, will discuss with our director, Paola Gaeta and students from the Geneva Graduate Institute, University of Geneva and Geneva Academy.

Read more

Faces and Data Event

The Future of Human Rights Measurement and Tracking

18 February 2025, 16:00-17:30

This Human Rights Conversation will bring together leading organizations and experts in the field, delving into specific tools, databases, and approaches that can enhance human rights monitoring and implementation.

Read more

Training

Human Rights and the Environment: Introducing Legal Regimes and Key Issues

1-8 September 2025

Participants in this training course will be introduced to the major international and regional instruments for the promotion of human rights, as well as international environmental law and its implementation and enforcement mechanisms.

Read more

Open dump Training

Protecting Human Rights and the Environment

15-19 September 2025

Participants in this training course will gain practical insights into UN human rights mechanisms and their role in environmental protection and learn about how to address the interplay between international human rights and environmental law, and explore environmental litigation paths.

Read more

Online folders Project

Digital Human Rights Tracking Tools and Databases

Started in March 2023

This initiative wishes to contribute to better and more coordinated implementation, reporting and follow-up of international human rights recommendations through a global study on digital human rights tracking tools and databases.

Read more

Sign: National Human Rights Commission of Nepal Project

Local Implementation of Global Human Rights

Started in May 2020

The Geneva Human Rights Platform collaborates with a series of actors to reflect on the implementation of international human rights norms at the local level and propose solutions to improve uptake of recommendations and decisions taken by Geneva-based human rights bodies at the local level.

Read more

Cover page of the working paper Publication

AI Decoded: Key Concepts and Applications of Artificial Intelligence for Human Rights and SDG Monitoring

published on January 2025

Milica Mirkovic, Jennifer Victoria Scurrell

Read more

Cover Page of Research Brief Publication

United Nations Treaty Body Individual Communications Procedures: What Is at Stake in the Strengthening Process?

published on October 2024

Claire Callejon

Read more