Event information

5 October 2022, 14:00-17:00

Roundtable Discussion on Governmental Perspectives on the Interaction of Rights and Beliefs in Multi-Religious Societies

Event

Freedom of religion or belief is increasingly both under strain and subject to manipulation. This fuels populism, violent extremism and xenophobia, which also exacerbates pushback against human rights from different angles. Countering these trends requires deeper reflection and closer collaboration between faith-based actors, academics, governments and United Nations (UN) human rights mechanisms.

This event – co-organized with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights – will discuss examples of putting the Faith for Rights Toolkit into practice.

This event is set within a full week of peer-to-peer exchanges of academics, civil society organizations, diplomats, international human rights mechanisms, students and UN entities, taking stock of the implementation of the 2012 Rabat Plan of Action and 2017 Beirut Declaration on ‘Faith for Rights.

Welcome

  • Gloria Gaggioli, Director, Geneva Academy and Adjunct Professor, University of Geneva Law Faculty

Moderation

  • Ibrahim Salama, Chief, Human Rights Treaties Branch, OHCHR

Panelists

  • Ahmed Al-Dawoody, Legal Adviser for Islamic Law and Jurisprudence, International Committee of the Red Cross and part of the Geneva Academy Faculty
  • Fernand de Varennes, UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues
  • Reem Alsalem, UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women
  • Nazila Ghanea, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief
  • Ahmed Shaheed, former UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief
  • Nahla Haidar, Vice-Chairperson, UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
  • Mahjoub El Haiba, Member, UN Human Rights Committee

MORE ON THIS THEMATIC AREA

Human Rights Tiles News

From Signals to Action: Strengthening the UN's Conflict Prevention Efforts

31 March 2025

Our recent research brief series explores how the United Nations' human rights system can enhance its role in early warning and conflict prevention.

Read more

AI for Good Event Event

AI for human rights: Smarter, faster, fairer monitoring

8 July 2025, 14:00-16:00

The event, as part of the AI for Good Summit 2025 will explore how AI tools can support faster data analysis, help uncover patterns in large datasets, and expand the reach of human rights work.

Read more

Local Government Event

Enhancing National Reporting and Implementation of Human Rights through Coordinated Engagement at the Local and Regional Levels: The Role of NMIRFs

23 July 2025, 10:00-17:00

This seminar explores how national mechanisms for implementation, reporting and follow-up can better integrate the capacities, data, and experiences of local and regional governments in advancing human rights implementation and reporting.

Read more

A general view of participants during of the 33nd ordinary session of the Human Rights Council. Training

The Universal Periodic Review and the UN Human Rights System: Raising the Bar on Accountability

10-14 November 2025

This training course will explore the origin and evolution of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and its functioning in Geneva and will focus on the nature of implementation of the UPR recommendations at the national level.

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

Session of a UN Treaty Body Project

Treaty Bodies Individual Communications Procedures

Started in January 2019

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

Cover of the publication Publication

Briefing N° 25: Localizing Multilateralism

published on March 2025

Domenico Zipoli, Ludovica Chiussi Curzi, Kamelia Kemileva

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