Kamelia Kemileva

Kamelia Kemileva

Co-Director, Global Cities Hub

Areas of expertise

Public International Law  /  Multilateral Diplomacy  /  UN Treaty Bodies  /  Human Rights Council

Kamelia Kemileva is an external consultant on selected mandates related to the Geneva Human Rights Platform.

Her research focuses on the functioning of the UN system, multilateral diplomacy and selected topics in international law, including co-writing the Geneva Academy Briefing 25 on Localizing Multilateralism. She regularly organizes training courses and events on UN human rights mechanisms.

Kamelia left the Geneva Academy in July 2019, after servicing as Special Project Manager and, before, as Executive Manager. Before joining the Geneva Academy, she worked as Special Assistant to the President of the UN Human Rights Council for three years. She was also a Visiting Programme Director at Wilton Park. Previously to that, she also worked at the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN Office at Geneva. In 2002, she was part of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in New York.

Kamelia has worked closely with the Geneva Canton Government on the establishment of a Centre for global cooperation. This project significantly developed her knowledge and contacts, both in Geneva and worldwide, within the areas of migration, health, science, disarmament, refugees, environment and trade.

Before moving to the public sector, Kamelia worked for two years in the private sector in a Geneva-based private bank as a compliance officer.

Kamelia holds a master’s degree in International Public Law and International Relations from the University of Geneva. She also holds an MBA diploma, with a focus on non-profit organizations.

Taught Courses

Town Hall Meeting Training

Localizing International Human Rights

This training course, specifically designed for staff of city and regional governments, will explore the means and mechanisms through which local and regional governments can interact with and integrate the recommendations of international human rights bodies in their concrete work at the local level.

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54nd session of the Human Rights Council. Training

Executive course for Diplomats: Leading in the Human Rights Council

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.

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Past projects

RESEARCH

INVESTIGATING IN SITUATIONS OF ARMED CONFLICT: Law, Policy and Good Practice

Completed in 2019

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Publications

Cover of the publication

Briefing N° 25: Localizing Multilateralism

March 2025

Domenico Zipoli, Ludovica Chiussi Curzi, Kamelia Kemileva

The Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights

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Cover page of the publication

Treaty Bodies’ Individual Communication Procedures: Providing Redress and Reparation to Victims of Human Rights Violations

May 2019

Claire Callejon, Kamelia Kemileva, Felix Kirchmeier

Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights

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Cover fot the article

Le Conseil des droits de l’homme, ses résolutions, les organes de traités et leur droit : pour une collaboration plus ambitieuse in : Réciprocité et Universalité, Sources et régimes du droit international des droits de l’homme

July 2017

Kamelia Kemileva

Mélanges en l’honneur d’Emmanuel Decaux, Pedone

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Cover of the article

Expertise in the Human Rights Council

June 2010

Kamelia Kemileva

Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative and South Asian university

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Cover of the article

Les Résolutions de la Commission DH à l’heure de la création du Conseil DH: quelle bonne résolution ?

January 2005

Kamelia Kemileva

La revue des droits fondamentaux, Revue électronique n° 5, CRDH

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