Domenico Zipoli>
10 June 2022
Our Geneva Human Rights Platform (GHRP) staff – Felix Kirchmeier, Chloé Naret and Domenico Zipoli – travelled to New York last week to discuss the future of United Nations (UN) treaty bodies (TBs) with TB Chairpersons, governments, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, civil society and National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs).
In these exchanges, they focused on the implementation of the recommendations stemming from the 2020 TB review by the UN General Assembly.
‘We accompanied the whole process leading to these recommendations by bringing academic inputs into the discussion and making concrete proposals to improve the work of TBs. It is now equally important for us to work on the implementation of these recommendations in order to make sure that TB continue their crucial work for the protection and promotion of human rights at the national level’ explains Felix Kirchmeier, Executive Director of the Geneva Human Rights Platform.
Chloe Naret
Domenico Zipoli
Domenico Zipoli
Domenico Zipoli>
The GHRP attended the opening and the public sessions of the Annual Meeting of TB Chairpersons, including two sessions specific to the 2020 TB review, including presentations by stakeholders on the follow-up given to these recommendations and on the progress made on TBs’ alignment of working methods and practices.
‘We contributed to the discussions by sharing our findings under the different TB procedures, including on the predictable schedule of reviews as well as on the possible establishment of an inter-Committee structure with a coordinated working methods agenda for all treaty bodies’ says Dr Zipoli, GHRP Project Coordinator.
The GHRP also attended the TB Chairs’ consultation with NHRIs and civil society, advising on recommended next steps for TBs and recalling its continued support to the 2020 review process through a number of dedicated activities including research and the piloting of new procedures (the focused review pilot series) and opportunities for inter-Committee cooperation (the TB Members Platform and its digital version, the TB Members Platform 2.0).
Domenico Zipoli>
A dedicated side event to the Annual Meeting of TB Chairs – organized with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Commonwealth Secretariat, TB-Net and the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN in New York. – provided an opportunity to discuss with relevant stakeholders the future of the TB system.
Attended by 30-40 people – TB Chairpersons, staff from OHCHR and other relevant UN agencies including UNDP, civil society representatives and diplomats from several missions to the UN in NY – and broadcasted live on UN WEB TV, it allowed for a fruitful discussion on a number of chore themes stemming from the Report of the 2020 review co-facilitators and the Chairs’ agreed vision on the future of the TB system.
‘Ample time was dedicated to an updated review of the upcoming digital transformation concerning the work of the TBs and OHCHR, as well as on the proposed introduction of a follow-up review in between a new 8-year cycle of reviews for all TBs’ underlines Chloé Naret, GHRP Project Assistant.
Domenico Zipoli
Domenico Zipoli
Domenico Zipoli
Via its DHRTTDs Directory, the Geneva Human Rights Platform provides a comprehensive list and description of such key tools and databases. But how to navigate them? Which tool should be used for what, and by whom? This interview helps us understand better the specificities of the November highlight of the directory: SIMORE Plus.
Geneva Academy
Applications for the 2024–2025 academic year of our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights are open. They will run until 26 January 2024 for applications with a scholarship and until 24 February 2024 for applications without a scholarship.
CCPR Centre
This discussion will look into election processes for UN TBs, the impact of Feminist Foreign Policy on this process, what can we learn from fellow international mechanisms, as well as the inclusion of a vetting process.
Adobe
This training course will examine how the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights have been utilized to advance the concept of business respect for human rights throughout the UN system, the impact of the Guiding Principles on other international organizations, as well as the impact of standards and guidance developed by these different bodies.
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré
This executive course, tailored for Geneva-based diplomats and co-organized with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, addresses the negotiation practices at the multilateral level, by taking the UN Human Rights Council as an example of formal and informal negotiation and decision-making processes by an international intergovernmental body.
UN Photo / Jean-Marc Ferré
Gorodenkoff/Adobe
This project facilitated a multistakeholder consultative process to identify knowledge gaps, generate new evidence and co-design evidence-based tools to support regulatory and policy responses to human rights challenges linked to digital technologies.