Strengthening Diplomacy: GHRP Training Course Enhances Engagement with UN Human Rights

5 February 2025

The Geneva Human Rights Platform (GHRP) kicked off 2025 with its annual training course for Geneva-based diplomats. The training, co-organized with the support of the Swiss FDFA, welcomed a group of 19 diplomats representing all regional groups and was specifically designed to deliver profound and pragmatic insights into multilateralism and the functioning of the UN Human Rights Council.

‘The mission of the GHRP Training Hub is to enhance engagement of all stakeholders with the UN human rights mechanisms based in International Geneva, to make it a most useful tool for their work. Deepening the knowledge on the standards and procedures is thus as important as are practical insights into the day-to-day functioning of the procedures and creating links between the people who make them thrive,’ says Felix Kirchmeier, Executive Director of the GHRP at the Geneva Academy. ‘This is what we aim at with our training courses.’

Over the course of three days, and through captivating and engaging exchanges with experts from UN human rights mechanisms, the former Chiefs of the UPR and HRC Branches, OHCHR, civil society and senior diplomats, participants delved into the evolution and functioning of the Human Rights Council’s frameworks and mechanisms. In particular, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), Fact-Finding Missions, Commissions of Inquiry, Special Procedures were put under the spotlight, and particular attention was also given to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ critical role as secretariat and human rights focal point across the UN system.

A highlight of the course was a session dedicated to the HRC President and the Bureau, during which participants had the opportunity to engage in a conversation with Ambassador Jürg Lauber, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations in Geneva since 2020, and recently elected President of the Human Rights Council for 2025.

Felix Kirchmeir added, 'Given the crucial role of the Human Rights Council in promoting and protecting human rights, and the high turnover of diplomats in Geneva, we hope to be able to offer this executive training course in the coming years. As diplomats arriving in Geneva are not necessarily familiar with the negotiation processes and voting of resolutions and decisions that take place at the Council, this training is beneficial to their new role but also ensures that the Human Rights Council itself functions at its best'.