7-11 July 2025
Application start 21 January 2025
Application end 22 June 2025
Application end / With visa 1 June 2025
Fee: 1830 Swiss Francs
The implementation of internationally agreed human rights standards in national contexts requires the participation of the United Nations (UN) human rights system as well as rigorous monitoring and implementation strategies by national human rights actors.
This training course will delve into the means and mechanisms through which national actors can best coordinate their human rights monitoring and implementation efforts, enabling them to strategically navigate the UN human rights system and use the various mechanisms available in their day-to-day work.
The UN human rights system – composed of UN special procedures, fact-finding missions, UN treaty bodies and the Universal Periodic Review – forms an extensive structure to review state compliance with international human rights standards. This sophisticated architecture at the international level finds complementarity at the national level with the participation of numerous actors: governments, independent state institutions, parliaments, civil society groups and UN agencies among others. More recently, we have also seen the emergence of national human rights structures such as inter-ministerial committees, national mechanisms for implementation, reporting and follow-up, national human rights institutions and national civil society coalitions. These bodies attempt, individually or through collaborative efforts, to ensure state compliance and accountability to the recommendations emanating from the UN human rights system.
Using concrete examples, this training course will provide an overview of the UN human rights system and explore available strategies for national-level implementation of international human rights recommendations, including the many challenges that such work encounters.
The course can be followed in Geneva or online.
The course will cover the following issues:
At the end of this course, participants will be:
The course will be conducted in a participatory mode with a combination of illustrated lectures (using power points and short videos) and group exercises aimed at understanding how best to access the UN human rights system. These group exercises will also demonstrate how to engage national-level actors, including through strategies to track the implementation of recommendations emanating from the UN human rights system and how to report back to this system to enhance accountability.
All participants in our training course have access – ahead, during and following their course – to a dedicated community platform (on Mighty Network). This community brings together all the participants to our courses who have unlimited access to the training materials and resources shared during their course and can exchange with all the alumni of the Geneva Human Rights Platform Training Hub.
The training course will be led by Miloon Kothari, a renowned expert on human rights and social policy, with extensive teaching and training experience on the UN human rights system.
This training course is designed for staff of NGOs, research institutes, UN agencies (especially members with experience in fieldwork) and other national and international organisations, members of NHRIs and representatives of governments and academia.
The language of instruction during the training is English. All candidates must possess a level of proficiency in English that enables them to actively participate in the training.
Participants who successfully complete the training course receive a certificate of participation from the Geneva Academy.
The training fee for this five-day programme is 1,830 Swiss Francs and includes tuition costs, course materials, 5 lunches, and refreshments during coffee breaks.
All participants are responsible for their own travel costs to Geneva, including Swiss visa fees and evening meals (approximately 30 Swiss Francs per meal).
The training fee for those attending the course online is 1,550 Swiss Francs.
There is a 30 percent discount for PhD and master students.
The fee is payable as soon as your place has been confirmed. As places on the training course are limited, participation can only be secured through the payment of the fee. In case of cancellation by the participant, CHF 200 won't be returned.
* These two discounts cannot be combined.
Applications must be submitted via this online application form.
Admission decisions for our training courses are made by our experienced lead trainers. They carefully evaluate each application and may offer acceptance, conditional acceptance, placement on a waiting list, or, in some cases, may need to decline the application.
If you have questions, do not hesitate to contact us: traininghub[at]geneva-academy.ch
Miloon Kothari is a renowned human rights and social policy expert with extensive teaching and training experience on the United Nations human rights system and the Universal Periodic Review.
Ashley Bowe is Chief of Party at Pacific Community-SPC.
Tram 15, Direction Nations - tram stop Butini
Bus 1 or 25, Direction Jardin Botanique - bus stop Sécheron
Villa Moynier is accessible to people with disabilities. If you have a disability or any additional needs and require assistance in order to participate fully, please email info[at]geneva-academy.ch
This course will be conducted online using the ZOOM platform.
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