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2 September 2021
Registration for the 2021 Annual Conference of the Geneva Human Rights Platform that will take place online and in Geneva on 12 October 2021 is open.
This one-day public event is open to all human rights actors in and outside Geneva – diplomats, experts, practitioners, civil society representatives, members of UN treaty bodies, UN Special Rapporteurs, international organizations, National Human Rights Institutions and academics.
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‘National human rights actors play a crucial role in the implementation of international human rights law (IHRL). Their engagement with the UN human rights system is key to ensure follow-up of recommendations at the national level. Our conference aims at exploring this connectivity and discussing it in relation to specific issues’ explains Felix Kirchmeier, Executive Director of the Geneva Human Rights Platform.
The conference is organized around two plenary panels in the morning, four parallel thematic sessions in the afternoon and a concluding session at the end of the conference.
Following the keynote and introduction, the morning sessions will discuss coordination among national human rights actors and the role of new technologies in monitoring and implementation at the national level.
The four parallel thematic sessions in the afternoon will address connectivity in relation to specific issues like racism, the environment, the role of cities in implementing IHRL or the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on persons with disabilities.
The concluding plenary panel will discuss the specific situation of small states and their interaction with UN human rights mechanisms.
‘Our objective is to trigger discussions around the key role of national human rights actors, what works, the challenges and possible best practices’ underlines Felix Kirchmeier.
The Conference and its various panels are organized with a series of partners – academic institutions, international organizations, NGOs and other platforms.
‘It is important for us to develop these partnerships to bring expertise, knowledge and enrich the discussion with the ultimate goal to further implementation of IHRL at the national level’ says Felix Kirchmeier.
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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.
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.
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The Geneva Human Rights Platform contributes to this review process by providing expert input via different avenues, by facilitating dialogue on the review among various stakeholders, as well as by accompanying the development of a follow-up resolution to 68/268 in New York and in Geneva.
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