Giovanni Distefano, faculty in our online Executive Master, tells about his experience teaching in the programme.

Our research brief 'Neurotechnology - Integrating Human Rights in Regulation' examines the human rights challenges posed by the rapid development of neurotechnology.

Mô Bleeker, UNSG Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect, shares how her work as Senior Fellow at the Geneva Academy contributes to our shared goals.

Alarming conflict trends from the IHL in Focus report were presented to members of the UN at the EU Delegation in Geneva by members of the Geneva Academy.

Our new series of Research Briefs examine the impact of digital disinformation and potential solutions for its regulation

Rubina Paparelli, Head of Syria Support at the International Committee of the Red Cross, tells about her experience taking our Executive Master of Advanced Studies.

Our recent research brief series explores how the United Nations' human rights system can enhance its role in early warning and conflict prevention.

Tarcisio Gazzini, faculty in our online Executive Master, tells about his experience teaching in the programme.

Our research brief, Neurotechnology and Human Rights: An Audit of Risks, Regulatory Challenges, and Opportunities, examines the human rights implications of neurotechnology in both therapeutic and commercial applications.

Stoyan Karastoyanov, a Chief Expert in Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Bulgaria tells about his experience of our Executive Master of Advanced Studies.

Our latest research brief examines how Private Military and Security Companies have reshaped warfare, international law, and global stability.

The Geneva Academy’s latest publication explores how cities, municipalities, and regional authorities are becoming key players in global human rights governance.

Dominik Rastinger, the Senior Political Adviser at the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek, enrolled in our online Executive Master, tells about the programme and what it brings to his career.

The IHL in Focus: Annual Report, which documents and analyses compliance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in some of the world’s most pressing conflicts, is now available.

Following his election as President of the Human Rights Council, we had the honour of welcoming Ambassador Jürg Lauber for the Geneva Academy's Spring Semester Opening Lecture.

Our new research brief examines the complex relationship between digital technologies and their misuse in surveillance, cyberattacks, and disinformation campaigns.

The GHRP’s annual training equipped 19 diplomats with key insights into the UN Human Rights Council’s mechanisms and multilateral processes.

Applications for the upcoming academic year of our Online Executive Master – MAS in International Law in Armed Conflict - are now open. They will remain open until 30 May 2025, with courses starting at the end of September 2025.

The Geneva Human Rights Platform contributed to key discussions on AI, human rights, and sustainable digital governance at the World Economic Forum 2025.

A new working paper, 'AI Decoded: Key Concepts and Applications of Artificial Intelligence for Human Rights and SDG Monitoring', has been published by the Geneva Human Rights Platform.

The Geneva Human Rights Platform is launching its 2025 training programme, designed to empower stakeholders engaging with UN human rights system.

Our recent research brief, Neurodata: Navigating GDPR and AI Act Compliance in the Context of Neurotechnology, examines how effectively GDPR addresses the unique risks posed by neurodata.

Natasha Floodgate, Geeta Mahapatra, and Thijs van der Horst will represent the Geneva Academy at the 47th edition of the Jean-Pictet Competition that will take place in Denpasar, Indonesia, from 22 February to 1 March 2025.

We are pleased to announce the publication of a new Research Brief authored by Dr. Christophe Golay, which examines the role of the United Nations Working Group on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas.

Our latest research brief critically explores how, under the guise of national security, governments misuse laws and narratives to target minorities and suppress political opposition.

We offer our students a variety of academic and practice-oriented learning opportunities, including internships that offer professional experience in international law and humanitarian work.

We are pleased to announce the publication of a new Research Brief examining the implementation and global impact of the UNGA Resolution recognizing the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

Each year, the Geneva Academy sends a team of students to the Jean-Pictet Competition. Participating in this leading moot court is a life-changing experience and an integral part of our programmes.

The Geneva Academy has released one briefing in French and four research briefs in French, English, German, and Italian on the right to food in Geneva.

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 current highlight of the directory: ICCPR Follow-up World Maps

The 2024 Annual Conference of the Geneva Human Rights Platform (GHRP), held on 5 November at Maison de la Paix, focused on the theme Human Rights System Under Pressure: A Reason to Expand Connectivity.

Applications are now open for our two full-time Master of Advanced Studies programmes: the LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, and the Master in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and Rule of Law.

A new episode of our podcast 'In and Around War(s)' with the theme 'The Geneva Conventions on Trial' has just been released.

The Geneva Human Rights Platform hosted an expert roundtable with the theme 'Opportunities for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Human Rights Monitoring.'

At the 34th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, we hosted a booth with Geneva Call and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway.

At our recent graduation ceremony, 104 students from our masters programs were honoured in the presence of faculty, staff, friends and family.

At the graduation ceremony, four academic papers are honoured with distinguished prizes that acknowledge outstanding academic achievements.

The Geneva Academy has published the first spot report from the 'IHL in Focus' research project, ‘Food Insecurity in Armed Conflict and the Use of Siege-like Tactics.’

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 current highlight of the directory: APF Library

The 2023 Millésime of the Vigne des Nations has been presented to the Geneva Academy by the Canton of Geneva in recognition of their work contributing to a better world.

Our latest research brief, 'Navigating Pathways Toward Transitional Justice in Ukraine' examines the initiatives currently unfolding in Ukraine and assesses how they can lead to a holistic transitional justice process.

During the 79th UN General Assembly Ministerial Week a high-level side event on the obligation to respect and ensure respect for International Humanitarian Law took place.

We organize online information sessions for prospective students interested in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and Master in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law.

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 current highlight of the directory: The Indigenous Navigator

The 83 students enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law joined us on for an event filled orientation week.

The Geneva Academy’s Board has been recomposed with Professor Christian Bovet as the new president, who was recently welcomed at Villa Moynier by the executive committee.

In our latest research brief, Beyond Power and Politics: Engaging Russia in a Fractured Multilateral Order, examines the role of and pathways towards accountability for Russia’s human rights violations.

The Geneva Academy is pleased to announce the appointment of Lina Borén as the new Head of Communications and External Relations.

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 current highlight of the directory: NHRI Accreditation Database

In the 2023-24 academic year students from our two Geneva based Masters Programmes embarked on study trips to Georgia and Morocco.

Our latest research brief, 'Sending Up a Flare: Autonomous Weapons Systems Proliferation Risks to Human Rights and International Security' examines the proliferation of autonomous weapons systems and consequent risks to security and human rights.

Our recent Academy Briefing, 'The Human Rights Data Revolution', has garnered significant international recognition in recent months with presentations in Indonesia, Paraguay and at the United Nations in New York.

The Geneva Human Rights Platform has released the final report of its Treaty Body Follow-Up Review Pilot Series, marked with presentations at the United Nations in New York and Geneva.

Our Annual Report provides an overview of the activity of the Geneva Academy in 2023.

As of 1 August 2024, Professor Paola Gaeta will assume the position of ad interim Director of the Geneva Academy, succeeding Professor Gloria Gaggioli.

Omar Bielma Velazquez, a Mexican career diplomat enrolled in our online Executive Master, tells about the programme and what it brings to his career.

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 May highlight of the directory: GenTRACK Arab States

Priyal Sepaha is an alumna of our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. In this interview, she tells about her background, the programme and what it will bring to her career.

Our latest Research Brief Between Science-Fact and Science-Fiction: Innovation and Ethics in Neurotechnology highlights the need for a robust regulatory framework around neurotechnology that can simultaneously foster innovation and protect human rights.

Students from our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights took part in a pleading exercise on the 2008 South Ossetia armed conflict between Russia and Georgia.

From 1 March to 7 May 2024, the Geneva Human Rights Platform’s Training Hub organized an online customized training course on Women’s Rights, sponsored by the Irene M. Staehelin Foundation.

This report examines themes that arose during two expert workshops on the role of AI-based decision support systems in decision-making on the use of force in armed conflicts.

Our podcast In and Around War(s) returns for a third season with the first episode discussing the weaponization of water.

The Geneva Human Rights Platform co-hosted an expert roundtable on 'Data Planning and Collection by National Mechanisms for Implementation, Reporting, and Follow-up', in Bologna, Italy.

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 April highlight of the directory: TransMonEE Database and Dashboard

Half of the class of our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights pleaded on 20 April on the current armed conflict in and around Gaza.

This new Research Brief sets out how climate impacts are placing pastoralist livelihoods under increasing pressure in drought-affected areas of Kenya.

To kick-start the activities of the 'IHL in Focus' project and refine its approach, a two-day expert meeting of representative practitioners and scholars from different disciplines was convened.

Our latest Research Brief examines the myriad consequences that accompany damage rendered upon food systems during armed conflict.

The Geneva Academy PhD Forum is a space that gathers PhD researchers and experts – in Geneva and beyond – who work in the scientific focus area of the Geneva Academy.

Our podcast In and Around War(s) returns for a third season.

María Gonzalez García, a Project Manager and Technical Advisor at the UN World Food Programme, enrolled in our online Executive Master, tells about the programme and what it brings to her career.

The Human Rights Data Revolution details the transformation which promises to enhance the effectiveness, inclusivity, and scope of human rights monitoring and implementation worldwide.

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 March highlight of the directory: ILGA World Database.

Our latest Research Brief discusses the varied ways that climate change, violations of environmental human rights and conflict can coalesce and work in a mutually reinforcing manner.

Our new Research Brief The Human Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment explores the national recognition of this human right.

María Elizondo, a Mexican lawyer enrolled in our online Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict, tells about the programme and what it brings to her career.

Our new research project IHL in Focus – launched at the beginning of the year – has been presented and discussed at the 2024 European Humanitarian Forum, a major yearly event convened by the European Union focusing on prominent humanitarian issues and challenges.

Ivana Kožar Schenck, a diplomat at the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Croatia to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, tells about the programme and what it brings to her career.

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 new highlight of the directory: UPR Info's Database

David Mooney works in communications and translation at the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations (UN) and other international organizations in Geneva and tells about programme and what it brings to his career.

As a Researcher at the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) in Colombia, Cielo Linares supports ICTJ’s work with Colombia’s Truth Commission and Special Jurisdiction for Peace, focusing on restorative justice, memory, prevention and reparation. In this interview, she tells about programme and what it brings to her career.

Discover our resources and what our experts say about the situation in Ukraine, with regular updates to include new events, articles and comments!

Discover our resources and what our experts and alumni say about the current situation in Israel and Palestine, with regular updates to include new events, articles, podcasts and comments.

In his new book, our Swiss IHL Chair Professor Marco Roscini dissects the principle of non-intervention – a core principle of international law and a pillar of international relations.

2023 has been a busy and fruitful year for our Geneva Human Rights Platform’s Training Hub which starts 2024 with an enhanced offer.

As an Associate at the International Committee of the Red Cross in the Persons Deprived of Liberty Unit, Hiran Geeganage supports the development of a methodology for monitoring and reporting on the institution’s detention activities. In this interview, he tells about the programme, fond memories and what it brought to his career.

Dr Stavros-Evdokimos Pantazopoulos will focus, during his fellowship at the Geneva Academy, on the protection of the environment in armed conflict and will notably address the initiative to criminalize conflict-related environmental harm, placing the emphasis on the crime of ecocide. 

We are excited to announce the launch of a new project consisting of the publication of a yearly global annual report assessing compliance with international humanitarian law in contemporary armed conflicts.

Anastasiya Dziubanava is enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. In this interview, she tells about her background, the programme and what it will bring to her career.

Our Geneva Human Rights Platform just released the latest report of its third and final follow-up review pilot conducted in Nadi, Fiji, in collaboration with the Pacific Community and the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa started the new year by declaring that there is an ‘internal armed conflict’ against a series of criminal groups operating in the country. Our Research Fellow Dr Eugénie Duss, in charge of RULAC, answers our questions about whether the situation in Ecuador amounts to a non-international armed conflict.

Applications for the upcoming academic year of our Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict are now open. They will remain open until 31 May 2024, with courses starting at the end of September 2024.

As a Programme Officer at the UN Women Centre of Excellence for Gender Equality, Claire An forms part of a team focussing on ending violence against women and implements research programmes that measure femicide and technology-facilitated violence against women. In this interview, she tells about the programme, fond memories and what it brought to her career.

Our new Research Brief explores the potential role of the UN Human Rights Council as an actor in the prevention of climate-related conflicts, alongside other multilateral efforts within the UN system.

Women in International Law is a new podcast series of the Geneva Academy and ATLAS Network that showcases women with diverse experiences and career paths in the field.

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 January highlight of the directory: HRMI’s Rights Tracker.

Our Geneva Human Rights Platform offered, in collaboration with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, a three-day executive training course for Geneva-based diplomats on  the functioning of UN human rights mechanisms and negotiation practices at the multilateral level.

As a Human Rights Officer with the UN Mission in South Sudan, Andrew Botz supports investigations into alleged violations of international humanitarian law and human rights in the context of the armed conflict in the country. In this interview, he tells about the programme, fond memories and what it brought to his career.

Cynthia Ayaa Komakec is enrolled in our Master of Advanced Studies in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law. In this interview, she tells about her background, the programme and what it will bring to her career.

In 2023, the Treaty Body Members Platform continued to accompany members of UN treaty bodies to address crucial issues related to their work, along with contemporary human rights challenges.

Ozan Yildirim is enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. In this interview, he tells about her background, the programme and what it will bring to his career.

For the first time, two Geneva Academy teams will participate in the prestigious Jean-Pictet Competition: a Francophone team and an Anglophone one.

As an Advocacy Officer at the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, Maeva Réné-Barry advocates for institutional changes at international and regional levels and conducts field missions to gather victim testimonies. In this interview, she tells about the programme, fond memories and what it brought to her career.

Arianna Pia Mazzariello is enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. In this interview, she tells about her background, the programme and what it will bring to her career.

As a Human Rights Officer at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Ignacio Bollier works on cases related to crimes against humanity and gross human rights violations during transitional and post-transitional contexts. He tells in this interview about the programme, fond memories and what it brought to his career.

International lawyers, social scientists, security experts, and humanitarian practitioners discussed how research in social sciences could inform IHL experts and humanitarian practitioners to assess whether a certain degree of cooperation between organized armed groups – referred to as a ‘coalition’ – had relevance for armed conflict classification.

In November, our Geneva Human Rights Platform – in partnership with the Pacific Community and the Commonwealth Secretariat – conducted its third and final UN human rights treaty body follow-up review pilot in Nadi, Fiji.

Our two Research Fellows Dr Jonathan Andrew and Dr Nataliia Hendel participated in a major summit in Lviv, Ukraine, to commemorate the 75th anniversaries of the Genocide Convention and of the Universal Declaration of Human Right.

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 December highlight of the directory: The National Recommendations Tracking Database (NRTD).

Our latest Research Brief delves into the content and genesis of the recent General Comment issued by the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances on enforced disappearances in the context of migration.

As a Manager at UN Global Compact Australia, Chris Caskey supports Australian businesses in meeting their human rights and labour rights commitments He tells in this interview about the programme and what it brought to his career.

Our new Research Brief discusses the proposal to establish a global helpdesk on business and human rights at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

At a conference at the European Parliament, our Senior Research Fellow Dr Christophe Golay discussed the compatibility of the draft law proposed by the European Commission with the international legal framework protecting the right to food and the rights of peasants.

Our new Research Brief The Evolving Neurotechnology Landscape: Examining the Role and Importance of Human Rights in Regulation provides a comprehensive background analysis on the complexities of regulating neurotechnology and the role of human rights in this process and marks the inception of our research project on neurotechnology and human rights.

Our Research Fellow Dr Eugénie Duss answers our questions related to this update that follows the attacks carried out by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Israel’s subsequent Iron Sword operation.

Applications for the 2024–2025 academic year of our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law are open. They will run until 26 January 2024 for applications with a scholarship and until 24 February 2024 for applications without a scholarship.

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.

We organize online Q&A information sessions for prospective students interested in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law.

During a workshop on the application and potential misuse of new and emerging digital technologies, including in law enforcement and the management of peaceful assemblies, academics, law enforcement professionals, human rights lawyers and representatives from international organizations and civil society focused on how best human rights can be protected.

Our LLM alumnus Ioannis Bamnios – who graduated in October – published the main and very innovative argument of his LLM paper on the ‘conduct of hostilities in occupied territories’ in the leading blog Articles of War of the US Military Academy at West Point.

Following Sierra Leone and Grenada, the third and final UN human rights treaty body follow-up review pilot will take place in Fiji with the participation of three Pacific Small Island Developing States, namely Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu.

This new working paper by our Geneva Human Rights Platform provides an overview of more than 30 reporting practices, their specificities and good practices in this ever-growing field.

This landmark event of our Geneva Human Rights Platform focused on the need to bridge the gap between Geneva-based human rights mechanisms and the UN in New York, based on the interrelated nature of human rights issues across both cities.

Our new policy brief Delivering the Right to Peace: Towards a Reinforced Role of the Human Rights Council in the UN's Peace and Security Framework delves into the possibilities of enhancing the Human Rights Council's involvement in the UN's peace and security functions.

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.

Exceptional academic papers are honoured with four distinguished prizes that acknowledge outstanding academic achievements: the Henry Dunant Research Prize, the Best LLM Paper Prize, the Best MTJ Paper Prize, and, for the inaugural time this year, the Best ExMas Paper Prize.

Our recent expert meeting, conducted in collaboration with the ICRC, addressed the growing involvement of civilians in cyber and digital operations during armed conflicts.

During the latest UN Human Rights Council session, our Head of Research and Policy Studies Dr Erica Harper presented at a side event the situation in Afghanistan.

In its last session, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC). created an international monitoring mechanism on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas.

In July, students enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights embarked on a week-long study trip to Armenia.

Discover the photo gallery of our 2023–2024 faculty members and their motivation to teach and share their expertise with our students.

Our new Working Paper invites readers to embark on a critical journey, shedding light on the intricate dynamics between security and human rights and calls for us to consider the effectiveness of counterterrorism policies as a matter of human rights law, demonstrating the benefits of this approach in improving the rationality of the decision-making process.

Hailing from 30 different countries, the 44 participants bring a wealth of experience from a wide range of sectors, including international organizations, NGOs, government entities, development agencies, law firms, and the private sector.

More than 30 DHRTTD developers and users representing different permanent missions, national ministries, international and regional organizations, national human rights institutions, civil society organizations and academia delved into the transformation digital tools bring to the human rights landscape.

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? In this interview, Dr Domenico Zipoli helps us understand better the specificities of the September highlight of the directory: IMPACT OSS.

The 79 students enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law started their classes on 18 September after a busy and insightful orientation week.

The GHRP introduced two innovative courses to enhance its Training Hub offerings, which delved into the realm of international human rights standards and system and into business and human rights.

For the 2023–2024 academic year, we offer 16 online short courses covering legal issues and topics relevant to armed conflicts.

The papers aim to allow students to investigate a subject of special interest and deepen their expertise through research as well as exchanges with experts, scholars and practitioners.

Our new Research Paper presents a comprehensive examination of the realities faced by 'Youth Associated with Non-State Armed Groups'.

Dr Harper shed light on military technologies’ potential impact on human rights and addressed the risks associated with the cross-application of these technologies and the related need for regulation.

Vance Culbert is a senior development and humanitarian professional who has managed operations for NGOs and UN agencies over the past twenty years. He just started as a Visiting Fellow at the Geneva Academy and will stay with us until the end of October.

Professor Claudia Martin just started as Visiting Fellow at the Geneva Academy and will stay with us until the end of July. She tells us in this interview the focus of her research during her time at the Geneva Academy.

To provide the international community with the most up-to-date overview of these online tools and databases, our Geneva Human Rights Platform is proud to unveil its new DHRTTD Directory.

Throughout this academic year, our students benefited from various professional development activities aimed at empowering and preparing them for impactful careers in the humanitarian, human rights and transitional justice fields.

The ‘Voices from the Ground’ series provided a platform for our students to interact with practitioners and activists who contribute to transitional justice (TJ) everyday making.

We have a few places left for the coming academic year that will start at the end of September 2023.

Our 2022 Annual Report provides an overview of our activities, highlights, outputs and impact for the past year.

Our new Research Brief Climate Change in the Security Council: Obstacles, Opportunities, and Options identifies entry points for engaging on environmental and climate security issues at the UN Security Council.

The Geneva Academy has been granted leave by the Court to intervene as a third party in this case – along with 26 governments – and submitted its third-party intervention on 28 April 2023.

Half of the class of our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights – 20 students – pleaded on Sunday 20 May at Villa Moynier on the 2008 South Ossetia armed conflict between Russia and Georgia.

As every year and in the framework of the IHL core course given by Professor Marco Sassòli, 16 students of our LLM in IHL and Human Rights pleaded on the 2014 armed conflict in and around Gaza.

In addition to the ongoing non-international armed conflicts (NIACs) that oppose the Sudanese armed forces to a number of non-state armed groups in the country, our RULAC online portal just classified a parallel NIAC between Sudan and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by General Hamadan.

The Geneva Human Rights Platform contributed to the proceedings of an international seminar on national mechanisms for implementation, reporting and follow-up (NMIRFs).

Our new IHL Expert Pool began to position itself as a flexible tool that human rights mechanisms can rely on to increase their international humanitarian law (IHL) knowledge and to apply IHL in their work.

The Geneva Human Rights Platform facilitated the drafting process of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances' very first General Comment (GC) – now out for consultation – on enforced disappearances in the context of migration.

At a meeting co-hosted with the Paris Human Rights Center, members of UN Treaty Bodies responsible for individual communications discussed the implementation of a coherent approach to dealing with communications brought by individuals who seek justice at the international level.

The Geneva Human Rights Platform and the Norwegian Center for Human Rights held in Geneva a training course on the work of United Nations (UN) human rights mechanisms for academics and human rights defenders from eight Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries.

The Geneva Academy is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Clotilde Pégorier as our new Head of Education.

Giada Rubino follows our online Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict while working as a Human Rights Associate at OHCHR in Colombia.

The Geneva Academy has been granted leave by the European Court of Human Rights to intervene as a third-party – along with 26 governments – in the Inter-State case Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia

Daniel Fyfe follows our online Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict while working as an Associate Expert at OHCHR in Geneva on UN treaty bodies’ individual communications procedures.

Our podcast In and Around War(s) returns for a second season of conversations with our alumni on topical issues related to wars.

The new Working Paper published by our Geneva Human Rights Platform identifies convergences, challenges and best practices related to innovative digital human rights tracking tools and databases.

Myriam Haddad follows our online Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict while working as Legal Adviser at the ICRC in Libya.

The Right to Seeds in Africa explores the implications of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas for the right to seeds in Africa.

At a one-day customized workshop organized by our Geneva Human Rights Platform’s Training Hub, 15 Legal Advisors from different Permanent Missions in Geneva discussed the proposal for a pandemic treaty from a human rights perspective.

The Training Hub will offer, as of this year, two new annual training courses on business and human rights and on the implementation of international human rights standards.

Rodanthi Violaki tells about her background, the programme and what it will bring to her career.

Benjamin Greenacre, Anamika Pillai and Rodanthi Violaki will represent the Geneva Academy at the 40th Edition of the Jean-Pictet Competition that will take place from 25 February to 4 March 2023 in Durrës, Albania.

2023 will be a busy year for us. Discover what we are up to and some topical issues we will address and work on via our research, Geneva Human Rights Platform and master’s programmes.

Belén Guerrero Romero tells about her background, the programme and what it will bring to her career.

Alexander Bekmurzin tells about his background, the programme and what it will bring to his career.

Antonia von Malsen tells about her background, the programme and what it will bring to her career.

Dr Yosuke Nagai is the founder and CEO of Accept International, which works on de-radicalization and reintegration for defectors and prisoners formerly involved with violent extremist groups. He just started as Visiting Fellow at the Geneva Academy and will stay with us until the end of March.

Tong Li is enrolled in our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law. In this interview, he tells about his background, the programme and what it will bring to his career.

Our new working paper Assessment Tool for Special Procedures' Impact Evaluation – Developing an Initial Framework examines how to further develop methodologies to appraise the impact of UN Special Procedures.

In 2022, the TBMP hosted nine informal meetings for UN TBs, with the participation of UN TBs secretariat staff from OHCHR, along with UN Special Procedures mandate holders and their respective secretariat staff in order to support OHCHR ‘all-mechanism’ approach.

Edward Madziwa tells in this interview about his background, the programme and what it will bring to his career.

A one-day consultation aimed at discussing with a variety of experts the challenges, opportunities and best practices arising from an increased reliance on open source information in accountability processes.

Our new publication Human Rights and the Environment explores the implications of the recently recognised right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, with a focus on the UN Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly.

Numbers don't tell everything but are a good indicator of our growth, of the wealth of activities we've carried out over the last 15 years and, to some extent, of our realizations.

The Geneva Academy and its RAISE partners welcome the Joint Statement by 12 UN UN Special Procedures' mandate holders on the occasion of the 4th year anniversary of the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP).

In 2022, the new Training Hub of the Geneva Human Rights Platform (GHRP) conducted seven training courses – two regular courses and five customized courses – in Geneva, online and in the field.

On this 4th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, we are launching – with FIAN International, La Via Campesina and CETIM – a new website dedicated to this Declaration.

While the armed violence between the government and the drug cartels, as well as between cartels themselves, remains high, it has become increasingly challenging to attribute these instances of violence and clashes to specific armed groups.

We are launching today a one-month crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for a scholarship to allow a talented European student with limited means and resources to follow our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights.

Our new Briefing The Universality of Human Rights: Developing Narratives to Overcome Polarization zooms into the main challenges that the idea of universality faces nowadays and seeks to offer some elements to devise a more consequential and effective narrative of human rights universality to overcome these challenges.

The 2022 Annual Conference of the Geneva Human Rights Platform addressed the issue of digital connectivity in the field of human rights via an expert meeting in the morning and a public discussion in the afternoon.

From 14 to 20 November, flags with the Geneva Academy’s logo will be flying on the Mont-Blanc Bridge on the occasion of our 15th anniversary.

The Geneva Academy PhD Forum is a space that gathers PhD researchers and experts – in Geneva and beyond – who work in the scientific focus area of the Geneva Academy.

These prizes – the Henry Dunant Research Prize, the Best LLM Paper Prize and the Best MTJ Paper Prize –, awarded during the Graduation Ceremony, recognize the exceptional academic work of three graduating students.

In the presence of students and their families and friends, Faculty members and Geneva Academy staff – with some students and their families participating remotely – the Graduation Ceremony was the occasion to celebrate this important milestone, congratulate our students for this achievement and say goodbye.

The Geneva Academy is hosting during a year Dr Nataliia Hendel, a Professor of international law at the International Humanitarian University in Odesa, Ukraine, and an expert in IHL.

In and Around War(s) is a new podcast series of the Geneva Academy on contemporary legal issues related to wars.

The book analyses processes of agricultural commercialization and their impact on gender inequalities and the enjoyment of the human rights to food, land and social security in Cambodia and Ghana.

Our Research Fellow Dr Chiara Redaelli tells us whether these referendums will affect our RULAC classification of the armed conflicts that are currently taking place in Ukraine.

Two UN treaty bodies, three UN Special Rapporteurs and the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances issued a Joint Statement on illegal intercountry adoptions.

The 35 professionals enrolled in our online Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict have just started their programme with two courses: an introductory course on international law and the international legal order and a course on international humanitarian law.

As part of this new IHL-EP, the Geneva Academy requested to intervene as a third party in the proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights concerning the case of Ukraine v. Russia (X).

Students of our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and MAS in Transitional Justice who will graduate in October dedicated their summer to the writing of their LLM and MTJ papers – a key output of both programmes.

According to our RULAC online portal, the border fighting between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan that took place in mid-September 2022 amounts to an international armed conflict (IAC).

In parallel to the 9th session of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture Governing Body, the Geneva Academy is contributing to the upcoming negotiations on farmers’ rights with a timely briefing paper.

At a roundtable organized by OHCHR in partnership with the Geneva Human Rights Platform, the Universal Rights Group, and the Danish Institute for Human Rights, experts discussed how they intend to give effect to the recommendations made in HRC report 50/64 on the establishment and development of national mechanisms for implementation, reporting and follow-up.

The 41 students enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and the 38 enrolled in our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law (MTJ) arrived in Geneva for their orientation week.

A Senior Researcher at The Danish Institute for Human Rights and the author of the multiple prize-winning book The Making of International Human Rights, Steven L. B. Jensen just started as Visiting Fellow at the Geneva Academy.

As we celebrate this year our 15th anniversary, we developed on this occasion a dedicated logo to mark this birthday and accompany all our communication and events around this milestone!

The Geneva Academy is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Erica Harper as its new Head of Research and Policy Studies. Dr Harper succeeds Felix Kirchmeier who remains the Executive Director of the Geneva Human Rights Platform.

Renewed fighting – despite ongoing peace talks – prompted the reclassification of the armed violence between Thailand and the Barisan Revolusi Nasional Coordinate (BRN) on our Rule of Law in Armed Conflict online portal.

The flags of our Geneva Human Rights Platform are flying on the Mont-Blanc Bridge to mark the platform's fifth anniversary.

In addition to the ongoing non-international armed conflict (NIAC) that opposes Ethiopia to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, our RULAC online portal just classified a parallel NIAC between Ethiopia and the Oromo Liberation Army.

Natia Kalandarishvili-Mueller is a professor of international law at ALTE University in Tbilisi. Also an alumna of our LLM in IHL and Human Rights, she just started as a Visiting Fellow at the Geneva Academy and will stay with us until the end of November 2022.

After passing the first round and qualifying for the competition’s final stage, Helmer Jonelid and Edward Millet – enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights – participated in the final rounds of the Nelson Mandela Moot Court. These took place in Geneva from 18 to 21 July 2022.

Students of our LLM in International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and Human Rights (LLM) and MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law (MTJ) spent a week in the Balkans – Belgrade, Sarajevo and Srebrenica – where they met experts and institutions who work in the fields of IHL, human rights and transitional justice. 

Our team at the 2022 Mandela Moot Court participated in an open practice at Villa Moynier in preparation for the final rounds that will take place in Geneva from 18 to 21 July.

Dr Lukasz Olejnik is a cybersecurity and privacy researcher and consultant with extensive expertise in cyberwarfare, cybersecurity, privacy and data protection.

At their 34th Annual Meeting, Chairpersons of UN treaty bodies agreed on a predictable review schedule of eight years.

Our new Working Paper Societal Risks and Potential Humanitarian Impact of Cyber Operations provides an up-to-date assessment of existing risks and protection needs in light of contemporary and future military cyber capabilities.

Our Geneva Human Rights Platform organized – along with the Syria Offices of UNFPA, UNDP and OHCHR – a customized training course for UN staff in Syria.

The Geneva Academy team at the 2022 Mandea Moot Court – Helmer Jonelid and Edward Millett – qualified for the final rounds of the competition that will take place in Geneva from 18 to 21 July 2022.

Said Condo Ndoli is the Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) sub-delegation in Timbuktu, Mali and graduated from our Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict in 2021.

Our Geneva Human Rights Platform staff – Chloé Naret, Felix Kirchmeier and Domenico Zipoli – travelled to New York to discuss the future of UN treaty bodies.

At a roundtable organised by Chatham House and hosted by our Geneva Human Rights Platform, experts addressed the role of human rights in AI governance.

In this new extracurricular activity, guest speakers involved in transitional justice (TJ) processes at the local level share with students their experiences in setting up, running, working, or resisting various TJ mechanisms and processes.

The expert meeting, organized with the Roma Tre University Law Department, focused on the content of the second issue paper of the International Law Commission Working Group which deals with the protection of persons affected by sea-level rise and statehood.

Our 2021 Annual Report provides an overview of our activities, highlights, outputs and impact for the past year.

Our new Research Brief provides a comprehensive summary of the key decisions taken and recommendations given by all relevant stakeholders in implementing the recommendations of the TB Review 2020 process.

Half of the class of our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights – 26 students – pleaded on 21 May at Villa Moynier on the 2008 South Ossetia armed conflict between Russia and Georgia.

Durkhanay Ijaz is a Legal Advisor at the International Committee of the Red Cross in Pakistan and is following our Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict online.

The report of the second focused review pilot – conducted in St. George’s, Grenada, by our Geneva Human Rights Platform (GHRP) with the Commonwealth Secretariat – shows the benefits that this exercise brings to both the work of UN treaty bodies and the implementation of human rights in countries.

Mona Koehler-Schindler works at the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and follows the programme online.

Our new Working Paper provides an overview of the various novel technologies that together form part of the ‘future digital battlefield’ and assesses some of the implications they have for humanitarian protection in armed conflict.

Anastasiya Marchuk is the Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Office in Odesa, Ukraine. She is currently enrolled in our Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict and follows the programme online.

Marco Roscini is a leading expert in international law of armed conflict, the use of force in international law, and international cyber security law and has published widely in the field of international security law.

At the request of the Fund's Council on Ethics, the Geneva Academy provided background information – in the form of a report – on current armed conflicts and international humanitarian law.

Dominique Luchsinger Faret, a lawyer in Chile and doctoral student at the University of Valencia just started as Visiting Fellow at the Geneva Academy and will stay with us until July 2022.

A new Research Brief on Regulating Business Conduct in the Technology Sector: Gaps and Ways Forward in Applying the UNGPs depicts the prominent gaps in regulatory approaches to business conduct in the technology sector with regard to the UNGPs.

Dr Jelena Plamenac and Charlotte Labrosse received prestigious distinctions at the 2022 Annual meeting of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) in April this year.

Professor Sassòli was in charge of the IHL part of the report that was presented on 13 April by the three experts to the OSCE Permanent Council. 

During one week, Francesca Gortan, Sarah Surget and Sophie Timmermans represented the Geneva Academy at the 38th Edition of the Jean-Pictet Competition that took place in Durrës, Albania, from 19 to 26 March.

From 23 to 24 March 2022, the Geneva Human Rights Platform conducted in Grenada, in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat, its second pilot of a UN treaty bodies (TBs) focused review – designed to discuss how countries implement specific recommendations issued by UN TBs between sessions.

As the EU is revising its legislation on seed marketing, the Geneva Academy is inputting this process to ensure that the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and its article 19 on the right to seeds are taken into account.

Our new Working Paper examines existing mechanisms at the national, regional and international levels for holding states accountable for their performance in implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Helmer Jonelid and Edward Millett – enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights – represent this year the Geneva Academy at the 14th Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition.

Our Director Professor Gloria Gaggioli participated in the European Humanitarian Forum that took place in Brussels from 21 to 23 March 2022.

This project forms part of our research cluster on sustainable development that aims to explore the linkages between sustainable development, the protection of the environment, climate change and the branches of international law that protect the rights of the most vulnerable.

Professor Marco Sassòli has been appointed as one of three experts on a mission to investigate violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in Ukraine for the OSCE.

Following Sierra Leone in December 2021, the second focused review pilot will take place in Grenada from 23 to 24 March 2022.

At a multi-stakeholder consultation, business, academia, civil society and state representatives discussed the gaps and ways forward in applying the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to regulate business conduct in the technology sector.

The report of the first focused review pilot conducted in Sierra Leone shows the benefits that such a mechanism could bring to the work of UN treaty bodies and the implementation of their recommendations.

The project aims at implementing the rights of peasants in 10 countries of the Global South: Philippines, India Nepal, Kenya, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Bolivia and Mexico.

On International Women's Day, meet the women who work and teach at the Geneva Academy.

Following the lifting of most sanitary measures, all the courses of our LLM in IHL and Human Rights and of our MAS in Transitional Justice will be taught in person, with recordings provided to students who are sick and cannot attend classes.

Tijana Kukanjac is enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. She tells about her background, the programme and what it will bring to her career.

Sharon Braekman is pursuing a MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law at the Geneva Academy. She tells us about her background, the programme and what it will bring to her career.

Carina Svenfelt works for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Tbilisi, Georgia, as a Programme Coordinator dealing with missing persons and their families.

In 2021, the Geneva Human Rights Platform developed and launched a new online tool for all UN treaty body members to interact online as a community of practice, consult each other, collaborate on tasks, connect to share news and information, and contribute material to a resource library

Eliška Mocková graduated from our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights in 2019 and currently works for the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, in one of its field offices.

Our new Working Paper by Professor Olivier de Frouville, based on his keynote speech at the Geneva Academy 2021 Graduation Ceremony, discusses the need for – and existing premises – a Global Transitional Justice Process.

Francesca Gortan, Sarah Surget and Sophie Timmermans will represent the Geneva Academy at the 38th Edition of the Jean-Pictet Competition that will take place from 19 to 26 March in Durrës, Albania.

Ten students from the 2020-2021 classes of our LLM and MAS in Transitional Justice are starting a one-year traineeship at the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva.

In light of concerns about the dissemination of illegal content, disinformation and misinformation via online platforms and social media, our new  Working Paper Regulatory Approaches to Online Harms and Human Rights: Three Case Studies discusses how to best place human rights at the centre of regulatory frameworks and legislation on online harms.

Charlotte Volet works as a Programme Officer at Lawyers Without Borders Canada in Québec City, where she contributes to the operationalization of projects in Honduras and Colombia.

Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin just started as Visiting Fellow at the Geneva Academy and will stay with us until June 2022. She will complete a monograph on the law of occupation focused on the gender dimensions of occupation.

Edward Millett, enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights tells us about the programme and life in Geneva.

Stephen Hare won the Gilbert-Apollis Prize at the 36th Edition of the Jean-Pictet Competition that took place in early December in Albania.

In this interview, Diana Cristina Corredor Gil tells us about the programme, what she plans to do after and life in Geneva.

Jean-Paul Nizigiyimana tells about his background, the programme and what it will bring to his career.

Ten alumni – six from our LLM in IHL and Human Rights and two from our MAS in Transitional Justice – published an article in the new edition of the International Review of the Red Cross that features emerging voices in the field of humanitarian law, policy and action.

From 7 to 9 December 2021, the Geneva Human Rights Platform conducted in Sierra Leone and in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat a pilot of a United Nations (UN) treaty bodies (TBs) focused review – i.e. a review carried out between the reporting cycles at the national level and designed to discuss how countries implement specific recommendations issued by UN TBs.

The new GHRP Fridays series, launched in November 2021, allows stakeholders to discuss the outcomes of the 2020 TB Review by the UN General Assembly and practical ways to implement change.

Sarah Surget and Marie Boulahrouz are organizing an art sale and raffle on Saturday 11 December 2021 at the Maison de la Paix to support the NGO Relief and Reconciliation for Syria.

A Geneva Academy research supported the entire process that led to the development of the Roadmap, including support to the stocktaking analysis, roadmap drafting and coordination of the consultation and research process.

Annabel Bassil currently works as a Junior Legal Advisor at Diakonia International Humanitarian Law Centre. In this interview, she tells about the programme and what it brought to her career.

The new podcast series ‘Antonio Cassese: The Stubborn Sparrow’ – co-hosted by our Faculty member and former Director Professor Paola Gaeta – discusses, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of his passing, the work and legacy of Antonio Cassese, who was known to his friends as 'Nino'.

Our new Research Brief The Right to Seeds in Europe (also available in French and Spanish) focuses on the steps that the EU and the EU Member States shall take – via the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas (UNDROP) – to better protect the right to seeds.

Our new Working Paper Promoting Quality, Independent and Diverse Treaty Body Membership discuss the membership of UN treaty bodies, a key issue to ensure proper human rights protection and the credibility of the overall system.

The GHRP Fridays – a new event series of the Geneva Human Rights Platform – will discuss the results of the UN Treaty Body Review 2020 and practical ways to implement change.

89 students graduated last week from our three master’s programmes – 48 for our LLM in IHL and Human Rights, 27 for our MAS in Transitional Justice and 14 for our Executive Master.

Several armed conflicts classified in our RULAC online portal see the participation of mercenaries or private military security companies alongside states’ armed forces. Dr Chiara Redaelli, in charge of RULAC and an expert in IHL, answers our questions regarding what IHL says about this phenomenon.

The Henry Dunant Research Prize, the Best LLM Paper Prize and the Best MTJ Paper Prize distinguished three graduating students for their exceptional academic work.

In around 20 pages students of our LLM and MAS in Transitional Justice investigated a subject of special interest to them and deepened their knowledge and expertise through research as well as exchanges with experts, scholars and practitioners.

With over 500 registered participants in Geneva and online and 24 partners, the conference focused on the capacity of domestic actors to mutually engage with each other and liaise with Geneva-based international human rights bodies in the context of implementation, monitoring and follow-up to UN human rights recommendations.

Olivier de Frouville, Professor of Public Law at the University of Paris 2 and Director of the Paris Human Rights Center, joined the Geneva Human Rights Platform Advisory Board.

The 49 professionals enrolled in our Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict have just started their programme. Fourteen will attend classes in person and 35 online.

The survey aims at improving this unique tool by collecting users’ feedbacks on its content, their use of the information provided on RULAC, and the sections consulted.

The UN Security Council and Common Article 1: Understanding the Role of Peacekeeping Operations in Ensuring Respect for IHL examines the applicability of article 1 common to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 – on the obligation to respect and ensure respect for IHL – to the UN, with a specific focus on peacekeeping operations.

Our new Working Paper discusses how current initiatives on the regulation of artificial intelligence technologies should incorporate the protection and respect for human rights.

Our Rule of Law in Armed Conflict (RULAC) online portal classified the armed violence opposing Mozambique to RENAMO splinter groups and the al-Shabab as non-international armed conflicts.

The 88 students enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law started their respective programmes last week.

To highlight the necessity of a human rights-based approach to regulatory efforts in the technology sector, we co-organized with the UN Human Rights B-Tech Project and the Centre for Democracy & Technology’s Europe Office a multi-stakeholder consultation attended by business, academia, civil society and state representatives.

Our new Working Paper Non-State Actors and Enforced Disappearances: Defining a Path Forward discusses the growing phenomenon of disappearances committed by non-state actors and the need to rethink the current definition of enforced disappearance to address this reality, improve the situation of victims and ensure proper accountability of non-state actors.

Sima Samar, former Chairperson of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, will deliver the keynote speech at the 2021 Annual Conference of the Geneva Human Rights Platform.

Our Senior Research Fellow and Strategic Adviser on International Humanitarian Law Dr Annyssa Bellal will discuss IHL monitoring and compliance at a High-Level Side Event during the UN General Assembly Ministerial Week.

Following the withdrawal of US troops and the fact that the Taliban gained effective control over most of the country, including Kabul, we revised the classification of the armed conflicts that are taking place in the country.

Ten years after the entry into force of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances, The Work of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances takes stock of what the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances has achieved and details its jurisprudence as it stands today.

In an article published in The Journal of Peasant Studies, our Senior Research Fellow Dr Joanna Bourke Martignoni discusses – on the basis of research carried out at the Geneva Academy – the extent to which a feminist approach makes a difference to the realization of the rights to food, land, decent work, and social security.

In the new podcast series ‘Lethal Autonomous Weapons: 10 Things We Want to Know’ launched in July, Professor Paola Gaeta and her research team discuss with other experts the challenges and problems raised by lethal autonomous weapons (‘LAWS‘).

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.

The new edited book on the The Domestic Institutionalisation of Human Rights (2021, Routledge) has just been published, our Research Fellow Dr. Domenico Zipoli contributes to this book project with a chapter on the engagement between TBs and National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs).

In August 2021, following the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban have rapidly taken control of most of the country, Kabul included.

Christian Durisch Acosta is enrolled in our Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict. He completed the programme’s courses back in June 2020 and defended his Executive Master’s paper on siege warfare from a human rights perspective in August 2021.

After passing the first round and qualifying for the competition’s final stage, Anh-Thu Vo and Bettina Roska – enrolled in our Master of Advanced Studies in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law – participated in the oral rounds of the Nelson Mandela Moot Court.

Professor Gabriella Citroni – who is part of our LLM Faculty – has been elected to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.

The past year has been a demanding year for all of us. It implied, for an academic institution like ours, to adapt all our activities to the online format almost from one day to the next. Besides the related challenges, this exceptional situation allowed us to innovate, expand our audience and activities, and show the continued relevance of our mandate.

In his new book War, our Former Director and Faculty Member Professor Andrew Clapham discusses the relevance of the concept of war today and examines how our notions about war continue to influence how we conceive rights and obligations in national and international law.

Our new Military Briefing: Persons with Disabilities and Armed Conflict provides guidance to the armed forces on how to integrate a disability perspective into military manuals and the training of their militaries.

Three new Working Papers – researched by the Geneva Academy in the context of our research on disruptive military technologies – address some of the main issues of contention concerning the application of international law to military cyber operations.

In her winning essay Digital Safe Havens: Sheltering Civilians From Military Cyber Operations, Isabelle Peart brings forward novel suggestions on how to reduce the risk of harm to civilians posed by military cyber operations.

At the online meeting of the Chairpersons of UN human rights treaty bodies, the Executive Director of the Geneva Human Rights Platform reiterated the importance of conducting dialogues with state parties concerning their reports at the national or regional level.

In our new Working Paper The United Nations Treaty Bodies in a Transition Period – Progress Review, Professor Olivier de Frouville shares his own views on the work of UN treaty bodies during the period running from March to December 2020.

While most of the existing scholarship focuses only on security detention or internment by armed groups in non-international armed conflicts, her thesis also studies the detentions of armed group members by their own group and criminal detentions for crimes related to the conflict as well as common crimes.

Collins Odhiambo is a Captain in the Kenyan Air Force and just completed a one-and-a-half-year assignment with the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). In this interview, he tells about the programme, distance learning and what it brings to his daily work.

Our new working paper analyses the contribution of international human rights mechanisms in preventing and addressing enforced disappearances in the context of international migration.

In the context of the 2021 Human Rights Week and its academic colloquium, graduate and postgraduate researchers who obtained their PhD within the past ten years are invited to submit proposals that explore the different facets of discriminations and inequalities and discuss their human rights impact.

The Geneva Human Rights Platform and the Geneva Cities Hub hosted an online panel to discuss privacy in the context of cities’ increased digitalization. Attended by municipal authorities and communities from around the globe interested in learning more about the privacy challenges related to the digitalization of cities, it brought together a diverse panel with in-depth experience in smart cities projects.

Since this academic year, recipients of the Henry Dunant Prize will have the opportunity to publish their paper in the International Review of the Red Cross, a leading publication on IHL, humanitarian policy and humanitarian action.

All LLM students – with the exception of one who pleaded online from Ethiopia – could plead at Villa Moynier in front of the jury composed of Professor Marco Sassòli and Lizaveta Tarasevich, an alumna of the Geneva Academy and Teaching Assistant at the University of Geneva.

Anh-Thu Vo and Bettina Roska, enrolled in our Master of Advanced Studies in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law, represent this year the Geneva Academy at the Nelson Mandela Moot Court.

As of  September 2021, incoming students of our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law will have the opportunity to stay at the new Grand Morillon student residence of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies.

As of Monday 26 April and the partial lifting of COVID-19 restrictions by the Swiss authorities, students of our three master's programmes  partially returned to class.

Chantal Touma follows our Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict online while working as Legal Adviser at the International Committee of the Red Cross Legal Department in Damascus. In this interview, she tells about the programme, distance learning and what it brings to her career.

In the framework of our LLM in IHL and Human Rights, students pleaded during the entire day of 24 April 2021 for Israel and for Palestine arguing that the side they represent has respected IHL while the adverse side has violated IHL.

During one week, Mina Radoncic, Stephanie Mutasa and Tamara Aburamadan – currently enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights – represented the Geneva Academy at the 35th edition of the Jean-Pictet Competition that took place in Durrës, Albania.

The Geneva Human Rights Platform is collaborating with the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria and OHCHR in the development of an online database aimed at assessing the impact of the UN human rights treaty body system.

Diego Ruiz Gayol is a Mexican diplomat working at the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the UN in Geneva where he is in charge of human rights issues. In this interview, he tells about the programme and what it brought to his career.

Our Research Fellow Dr Domenico Zipoli just defended with success his PhD thesis The Power of Engagement: Assessing the Effectiveness of Cooperation between UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies and National Human Rights Institutions.

Our Rule of Law in Armed Conflict (RULAC) online portal provides a detailed analysis and legal classification of this conflict, including information about parties and applicable international law.

Our new Working Paper Towards Transversal Standards to Evaluate the Impact of UN Special Procedures discusses the impact of UN Special Procedures, reviews progress made to measure it, and proposes avenues to improve this assessment.

The Geneva Academy and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are organizing – in the context of our Digitalization of Conflict joint initiative – a student essay competition open to all undergraduate students from universities (including military academies) anywhere in the world.

The Geneva Academy is deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Professor Christof Heyns. He was an incredible force of inspiration for all of us at the Geneva Academy – students, researchers and professors.

Our RULAC online portal provides a detailed analysis and legal classification of this conflict, including information about parties and applicable international law.

This practical manual focuses on the steps that the European Union (EU) and the EU Member States shall take to better protect the right to seeds in Europe.

An online expert consultation co-organized with the UN Human Rights’ B-Tech Project discussed regulatory and policy responses to human rights challenges linked to digital technologies.

The first of a longer series aimed at producing a global comparative analysis, they provide a unique insight on how two armed non-State actors perceive international humanitarian law and some selected rules contained therein.

At an online workshop – one of the first steps of a research project on the humanitarian consequences and protection needs caused by the digitalization of armed conflicts – cyber experts discussed the humanitarian and societal impact of military cyber operations.

We have been conducting research for more than 10 years on armed non-State actors, and continue to do so via two leading projects.

Joshua Niyo received a one-year Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) Doc.Mobility grant to spend a year at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law as Visiting Researcher.

This monthly newsletter will keep our audience informed about the activities of the platform, upcoming events and key human rights discussions in Geneva and beyond.

Antonio Coco is a Lecturer at the University of Essex’s School of Law, where he teaches a variety of courses on international law. In this interview, he tells about the LLM and what it brought to his career.

Abel Vijayakumar is enrolled in our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of LAW (MTJ). In this interview he tells about the programme and life in Geneva.

Our new publication analyses institutional cooperation initiatives at the domestic level designed to strengthen human rights implementation.

Support our one-month crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for scholarships for our LLM in IHL and Human Rights and MAS in Transitional Justice.

Virginia Raffaeli is a Research Officer for the Geopolitics and Global Futures Programme at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. In this interview, she tells about the programme and what it brought to her career. 

Discover our plans for the upcoming academic year for or LLM in IHL and Human Rights and MAS in Transitional Justice.

Tamara Aburamadan, Stephanie Mutasa and Mina Radoncic – enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights – will represent the Geneva Academy at the 2021 Edition of the Jean-Pictet Competition.

In this interview, Hannah-Milena Elias, currently enrolled in our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law, tells about the programme and life in Geneva.

For this spring semester, we offer a series of online short courses on topical and contemporary issues in the field of international humanitarian law, human rights and transitional justice.

In this interview, Émilie Charpentier, currently enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights (LLM) tells us about the programme and life in Geneva.

In this interview, Dasha Reddy, currently enrolled in our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law, tells us about the programme and life in Geneva.

Serhat Öztürk graduated from our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights in October 2020. He is now working with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Turkey. In this interview, he tells about the programme and what it brought to his career.

Pleun Andriessen graduated from our MAS in Transitional Justice in 2019. She currently works for the NGO Syrians for Truth and Justice on a project related to the current constitution-building process in Syria. In this interview, she tells about the programme and what it brought to her career.

At an online high-level meeting organized by Colombia’s Constitutional Court, our Senior Research Fellow and Strategic Adviser on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Dr Christophe Golay will present the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and its potential to protect the rights of peasants in the country.

Our Rule of Law in Armed Conflict (RULAC) online portal provides a detailed analysis of this conflict, including information about parties, classification and applicable international law.

In this new position, she will work closely with Professor Gloria Gaggioli, Director of the Geneva Academy. Ms Bonnet will manage the daily functioning of the institution and will notably be in charge of the financial management of all programmes, as well as of the administrative management of the staff.

In this interview, Ely Cossio, currently enrolled in our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law, tells about the programme and life in Geneva

Co-published with the ICRC, they provide key guidance to States aiming to conduct investigations of IHL violations, but also to other bodies and individuals seeking a more detailed understanding of investigations in armed conflict.

Ezequiel Heffes works as a Thematic Legal Adviser at Geneva Call, a humanitarian NGO that engages armed non-State actors to increase their level of compliance with humanitarian norms. In this interview, he tells about the programme and what it brought to his career.

Sahar Ammar is a  Project Associate in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) department of the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) in Geneva. In this interview, she tells about the programme and what it brought to her career.

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most meetings and exchanges had to take place online.

Two years have passed since the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas. On this occasion, we are launching, together with the International Land Coalition, an easy-to-use manual that looks into how this historical declaration can be used to protect the right to land.

Experts from Geneva-based human rights mechanisms and representatives from more than 20 different national human rights systems discussed in an online meeting the implementation of human rights standards through national human rights systems.

Tamara Aburamadan, currently enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, tells us about the programme and life in Geneva.

In this interview, Tatjana Milovanović, currently enrolled in our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law, tells us about the programme.

Katja Schöberl is the IHL Legal Adviser for the German Red Cross in Berlin. In this interview, she tells about the programme and what it brought to her career. 

During an online expert meeting hosted by the Geneva Human Rights Platform, more than 20 UN Special Rapporteurs and members of UN working groups, as well as OHCHR staff, civil society representatives and lawyers explored how the impact of UN Special Procedures’ visits, recommendations and inquiries can be effectively measured and evaluated.

Andrew Songa serves as the Delegate to the African Union for the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). In this interview, he tells about the programme and what it brought to his career.

Our new Research Brief The Right to Land and Other Natural Resources details the content of this right, states’ obligations, as well as accountability mechanisms for its enforcement at national, regional and international levels.

Our RULAC online portal provides a detailed analysis of these conflicts. It has been updated to include recent developments, including the current peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

Co-organized with the Counter-Terror Pro LegEm Project, the meeting examined the effectiveness of measures to prevent and counter terrorism – closure of places of worship, vague prohibitions of ‘glorification of terrorism’, stop-and-search operations – and their impact on human rights.

Our Rule of Law in Armed Conflict (RULAC) online portal provides a detailed analysis of these conflicts, including information about the parties, classification, and applicable international law.

Our new Research Brief discusses the protection of peasant’s right to seeds notably in light with the protection of this right in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas.

Our Rule of Law in Armed Conflict (RULAC) online portal provides a detailed analysis of this conflict, including information about parties, classification and applicable international law.

Our new Briefing assesses the UN Security Council’s recent engagement with international humanitarian law and accountability.

A new Research Brief summarizes a number of findings from a research partnership of practitioners and scholars from Cambodia, Ghana, and Switzerland.

Every year, at the Graduation Ceremony, three students – two from the LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and one from the MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law are rewarded for their exceptional academic work via three prizes.

With more than 400 registered participants – both online and in Geneva – the Annual Conference brought all the relevant stakeholders in the discussions around this topical human rights issue.

Our RULAC online portal provides a detailed analysis of these conflicts, including information about parties, classification and applicable international law.

A new research project, carried out in partnership with the International Committee of the Red Cross, will explore the humanitarian consequences and protection needs caused by the digitalization of armed conflicts and the extent to which these are addressed international humanitarian law.

The memorial that Charlotte and Sonali submitted to qualify for the oral rounds won the 7th place, out of 39 memorials submitted by English-language teams.

For the 2020-2021 academic year, 18 practitioners will follow the programme in Geneva and 26 online.

Students of our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights (2019-2020 academic year) dedicated their summer to the writing of their LLM papers – a key output of the programme.

Students of our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law – 2019-2020 academic year – successfully took up the challenge of addressing in around 20-pages contemporary transitional justice issues and challenges.

Charlotte Volet and Sonali Wanigabaduge, enrolled in our Master of Advanced Studies in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law during the 2019–2020 academic year, successfully qualified for the oral rounds of the Nelson Mandela moot court.

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the training course took place both in Geneva and online – with four participants in Geneva and nine online.

An online event discussed the results and recommendations of a report of the World Blind Union that highlights the greater impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on blind and partially sighted persons.

The 78 students of our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law are starting their classes this week, both in Geneva and online.

At an event organized by the Geneva Human Rights Platform, 50 experts and practitioners reflected on the consultation process of the TB review 2020 led by Morocco and Switzerland.

For the upcoming 2020–2021 academic year, our 16 short courses in international law in armed conflict will also be offered online – in addition to taking place in Geneva.

Our RULAC online portal provides a detailed analysis and legal classification of the various non-international armed conflicts that are taking place in Sudan. In this interview, our Research Fellow Dr Chiara Redaelli explains why the recent peace agreement does not put an end to them.

Our new Research Brief identifies international legal standards that should be taken into account by law- and policy-makers when developing normative and policy frameworks governing seeds and food systems.

Our new Research Brief lists actions that countries should take to ensure that their foreign policy is consistent with the United Nations (UN) Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, adopted by the United Nations in 2018.

Our new research project will provide substantive support to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association Clément Voulé.

Professor Gloria Gaggioli is the new Director of the Geneva Academy. In this new role, she will provide vision and guidance to anchor the role of the Geneva Academy as a centre for academic excellence that provides high-quality education, training and research in international law in armed conflict and in human rights.

The written submission includes all the proposals developed by the Geneva Human Rights Platform since the beginning of the process. They are the outcome of a multi-year process of academic research and consultations, along with multi-stakeholder consultations.

For the upcoming 2020-2021 academic year, we are offering two new online short courses in transitional justice, designed for human rights practitioners and professionals working in post-conflict or post-authoritarian contexts who wish to acquire an extensive knowledge of international human rights law in transitions.

Mohibullah Taib is an Afghan diplomat in charge of human rights at the Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the UN in Geneva. In this interview, he tells about the programme and what it will bring to his career.

Our Rule of Law in Armed Conflict (RULAC) online portal monitors the three armed conflicts that are currently taking place in Ukraine. Each conflict has been updated to include recent developments, which do not affect our current classification.

Two students enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights – Marishet Mohammed Hamza from Ethiopia and Virginia Raffaeli from Italy – developed for the ICRC online casebook How does Law Protect in War? 26 practical cases that show how IHL applies in contemporary armed conflicts.

During the discussion, the panelists addressed the state of transitional justice issues as well as the challenges in dealing with the past, present and future of Transitional Justice in post-Soviet states. 

The Geneva Academy supports the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights' project for the 10th anniversary of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Delegation in Armenia and the American University of Armenia are organizing for the third year a Regional Summer School on international humanitarian law (IHL). Scheduled to take place in Yerevan from 7-11 July 2020, it will take place online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Organized by the ICRC, Diakonia Lebanon Resource Desk for IHL and the Geneva Academy, it aims at empowering the next generation of international lawyers from the region with advanced knowledge of international law applicable in armed conflict

Our new Practical Manual precisely outlines the role of UN human rights mechanisms – UN treaty bodies, the UN Human Rights Council and its Special Procedures – in monitoring the SDGs that seek to realize ESCR.

On 11 and 26 June 2020, academics and experts in the field of international humanitarian law, international criminal law, and animal law discussed online controversial issues related to the status and protection of animals in armed conflict in the context of a research project on this issue.

Our new Research discusses the approach, methodology and objectives of our new research project that aims at gaining a more comprehensive understanding of the strengths and weaknesses affecting different National Human Rights Systems.

The web chat on Business, the Economy, and Livelihoods in a COVID-19 World marked the last ‘Right On’ online event before the summer break. The series will resume in September, at the pace of one online event per month.

A two-day online expert meeting on gender-responsive cities closed last week a series of three online conferences on inclusive cities aimed at informing UN-Habitat Strategic Plan for 2020-2023.

Following the easing of lockdown measures announced by the Swiss Federal Council, the Geneva Academy will gradually reopen its doors from Monday, 8 June.

The RULAC entry on this conflict has been updated with an analysis of the situation and its evolution since the beginning of the conflict back in 2007, as well as developments in 2020 as the fighting continues in spite of COVID-19.

The Advisory Board of the Geneva Human Rights Platform (GHRP) – composed of leading human rights experts and practitioners from different regions and backgrounds – provides guidance to the GHRP Executive Director regarding the Platform's strategy, priorities and activities.

This document – the outcome of research and broad consultations carried out under the auspices of the Geneva Academy and the University of Pretoria – provides direction on what constitutes lawful and responsible deployment and use of less-lethal weapons.

The Geneva Human Rights Platform has been contributing to this review by providing expert input, by facilitating dialogue on the review among various stakeholders, as well as by accompanying the discussions towards the follow-up resolution to 68/268 in New York and in Geneva.

From today until Sunday 7 June, flags with the Geneva Human Rights Platform logo will be flying on the Mont-Blanc Bridge.

The updated Commentary on the Third Geneva Convention will bewill be launched online on 16 June where an expert panel, including our Director Professor Marco Sassòli, will discuss the Commentary's main findings and will examine how international humanitarian law protects prisoners of war.

The non-international armed conflict in Turkey – which opposes the Turkish army and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) – has been updated with a section on the origins of the conflict, information about its evolution in 2019-2020, and an analysis as to whether the TAK, a splinter group of the PKK, is also a party to this NIAC.

During two days around 60 experts analysed existing challenges and barriers for persons with disabilities and older persons in an urban context and made specific recommendations thereof.

In his latest report on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, the UN Secretary-General refers to our Guidelines on Investigating Violation of IHL, co-published with the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Albeit the challenging COVID-19 times and a programme that is entirely online since March, students of our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law continued their rich social life and extracurricular activities online.

Tarek Tawil is a humanitarian practitioner, specialized in the protection of refugees and internally displaced persons during and following armed conflicts. In this interview, he tells about the programme and what it will bring to his career.

In the framework of our LLM and the course on IHL given by our Director Professor Marco Sassòli, students pleaded online on 17 May for Russia and Georgia arguing that the side they represent has respected IHL while the adverse side has violated IHL.

Six out of the 18 chapters of the new Oxford Guide to International Humanitarian Law – edited by Ben Saul and Dapo Akande – have been written or co-written by Geneva Academy’s professors or experts.

In an online conference co-organized by the Geneva Human Rights Platform, UN-Habitat, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Geneva Cities Hub, around 60 experts exchanged around best practices to ground the development of cities in a human rights framework.

Knowledge transfer is at the heart of our activities. During 2019, our professors, researchers and staff have ensured such transfer in international humanitarian law, human rights and transitional justice via research, our three masters, training courses, events and the Geneva Human Rights Platform.

Patricia Ötvös is a lawyer with over 15 years of experience as a litigator, legal counsel and human rights advisor. In this interview, she tells about the programme and what it brought to her career.

The new book The Human Rights Council: A Practical Anatomy by Eric Tistounet, Chief of the Human Rights Council Branch at OHCHR, is the outcome of a six-months research fellowship carried out by the author at the Geneva Academy.

This page, which is regularly updated, details the implications of the current health situation for our community and visitors. Last update: 4 May 2020.

Despite confinement, social distancing and a programme that is now entirely online, students managed to pursue, albeit remotely, their precious interactions, discussions and social life.

In the framework of the IHL course of our LLM in IHL and Human Rights, students pleaded online during the entire day of 25 April for Israel and for Palestine arguing that the side they represent has respected IHL while the adverse side has violated IHL.

Graduate and postgraduate researchers having obtained their PhD within the past 10 years are invited to submit proposals for a workshop that will examine the relationship between climate change and human rights.

Monica Garcia works in Geneva as Executive Assistant at Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Access Campaign. She tells in this interview about the programme and what it will bring to her career.

In a very short time, our institution, like many others, had to adapt to the current situation and rethink the way we operate, work, conduct research and transfer knowledge to our students, as well as via our events and conferences.

During one week, Berta Fernández Rosón, Melina Fidelis Tzourou and Yulia Mogutova – currently enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights – represented the Geneva Academy at the 34th edition of the Jean-Pictet Competition that took place in Denpasar, Indonesia. They reached the finals of the competition.

This research will analyse how the UN Security Council has recently dealt with international humanitarian law (IHL) and formulate a series of recommendations to policy-makers working with this organ to ensure consistency in addressing IHL issues.

Our RULAC website provides a detailed analysis and legal classification of this conflict, including information about parties, its classification and applicable international law.

At a meeting of the Geneva Human Rights Platform, diplomats, members of UN treaty bodies (TBs) and civil society representatives discussed and exchanged around this document and the upcoming review of UN TBs by the UN General Assembly.

Dr Adriana Bessa is a Senior Research Fellow at the Geneva Academy. She is involved in research projects dealing with the right to food and the sustainability of food systems, and the rights of peasants. She also coordinates a training course on the protection of human rights and the environment.

Further research conducted by the RULAC research team highlighted that the level of organization of the Sinaloa Cartel, as well as the intensity of the armed violence between this cartel and both the Mexican armed forces and the CJNG allow classifying these two situations as non-international armed conflicts.

Students of our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law (MTJ) spent, as part of the programme’s annual study trip, four days in Kosovo where they met with a wide range of experts and institutions involved in post-conflict reconstruction and the rule of law.

Dr Chiara Redaelli is one of our Research Fellows in international humanitarian law. She currently works on our Rule of Law in Armed Conflict (RULAC) project.

Melina Fidelis Tzourou is enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. From 7 to 14 March, she will travel to Bali, Indonesia to represent the Geneva Academy at the Anglophone Edition of the 2020 Jean-Pictet Competition – along with Chiemelie Michael Agu and Yulia Mogutova.

Our New Research Brief Human Rights and the Governance of Artificial Intelligence discusses the opportunities and risks that AI represents for human rights, recalls that international human rights law should occupy a central place in the governance of AI and outlines two additional avenues to regulation: public procurement and standardization.

Dr Joanna Bourke Martignoni is one of our Senior Research Fellows. She is involved in several research projects dealing with gender, the right to food and land commercialization, as well as with gender equality in the context of business activities, and on economic, social and cultural rights and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Yulia Mogutova is enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. From 7 to 14 March, she will travel to Bali, Indonesia to represent the Geneva Academy at the Anglophone Edition of the 2020 Jean-Pictet Competition – along with Chiemelie Michael Agu and Melina Fidelis Tzourou.

As part of the programme’s annual study trip, students of our LLM in International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and Human Rights travelled to Belgrade, Sarajevo and Budapest where they met experts and institutions who work in the fields of IHL, international human rights law and international criminal law.

Dr Annyssa Bellal is a Senior Research Fellow at the Geneva Academy and our Strategic Adviser on International Humanitarian Law (IHL). She currently works on a research project on armed groups and IHL.

Chiemelie Michael Agu is enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. He will travel to Bali, Indonesia to represent the Geneva Academy at the Anglophone Edition of the 2020 Jean-Pictet Competition – along with Melina Fidelis Tzourou and Yulia Mogutova.

Our Senior Research Fellow and Strategic Adviser on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Dr Christophe Golay, is a candidate for the position of United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food.

In his latest report to the UN General Assembly on the status of the human rights treaty body system, António Guterres refers to our work on the future of UN treaty bodies.

Juan Daniel Salazar is the Head of Cooperation and Strategic Alliances at Colombia’s National Center of Historical Memory, a national state institution in charge of the symbolic reparations for the victims of the Colombian armed conflict. He tells about the programme and what it brought to his career.

Dr Jonathan Andrew is a Research Fellow at the Geneva Academy, where he conducts research on the impact of emerging digital technologies, such as the development of social media channels, on the promotion and protection of human rights.

Our new Research Brief discusses the role of human rights mechanisms at national, regional and international levels in monitoring the implementation of the UN Declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas.

Dr Christophe Golay is Senior Research Fellow and Strategic Adviser on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) at the Geneva Academy. He is involved in several research projects on the right to food, the rights of peasants, as well as ESCR and the SDGs

As Swiss IHL Chair, Professor Geiß will develop and promote the Geneva Academy’s expertise in the area of new military technologies via policy work, cutting-edge research, expert meetings, the development of partnerships, teaching and the launch of a new lecture series on this issue.

In 2020, the Geneva Human Rights Platform will continue to work on the connectivity of human rights mechanisms, broadening the scope by also looking at the connectivity of Geneva-based human rights bodies with regional mechanisms in Africa, the Americas and Europe.

Tania Bonilla Matiz is a Professional Advisor at Colombia's Special Jurisdiction for Peace. She tells us about the programme and what it brought to her career.

Émilie Max is one of our researchers. She tells us about her background, the research projects she works on and why she decided to work in this field.

Ramzi Kaiss comes from Beirut and has been working in the US and Lebanon on issues related to genocide, mass atrocities and memory. Currently enrolled in our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law, he tells us about the programme and life in Geneva.

Lisa Borden, a practising trial lawyer in the US for 30 years and currently enrolled in our LLM tells us about the programme and life in Geneva.

During his time at the Geneva Academy, Alexandre will investigate how stolen and looted cultural objects from conflict zones, or objects that have been hidden as spoils of wars, find their way into the mainstream international art and antique market via the regulated financial markets.

In this interview, Sonali Wanigabaduge, who is enrolled in our Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law, tells us about the programme and life in Geneva.

The 2019 meetings focused on the rights of the child, corruption, the 2020 review of UN treaty bodies, missing persons, trafficking and prostitution, as well as individual complaints.

In this interview, Nana Kruashvili, who is enrolled in our Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law, tells us about the programme and life in Geneva.

The statement, which refers to our Research Brief  on the implementation of the Declaration, contains many recommendations entailed in this publication.

Our new War Report article analyses the June 2019 shooting down by Iran of a United States (US) military drone and the alleged US counter cyber-attack.

In this interview, Melina Fidelis-Tzourou, who is enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, tells us about the programme and life in Geneva.

Marie-Charlotte Beaudry works as a Human Rights Officer/Women Protection Advisor at the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) in Bangui.  She tells us about the programme and what it brought to her career.

The Research Brief From Words to Deeds: A Study of Armed Non-State Actors’ Practice and Interpretations of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Norms summarizes the focus, objectives, methodology and research questions of this project.

In this interview, our alumna Jelena Plamenac, an international humanitarian lawyer with over 10 years’ experience in practicing humanitarian and human rights law in international criminal justice systems and humanitarian organizations, tells us about the programme and what it brought to her career.

Two alumni of our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, Ezequiel Heffes and Manuel Ventura are the editors, along with Marcos Kotlik, of a new book on international humanitarian law and non-state actors.

Written by Miloon Kothari, President of UPR Info and former UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, it outlines a series of measures, inspired by the UPR, to strengthen the implementation of UN treaty bodies' concluding observations.

Our new War Report article Iraq: Any Hope for Change? provides an overview of the non-international armed conflict in the country, including information about the classification of the conflict, its history, parties and developments in 2019.

Our new War Report article Non-International Armed Conflict To Continue in Sinai? discusses the non-international armed conflict between Egypt and Wilayat Sinai, an armed non-state actor that has pledged loyalty to the Islamic State group.

Staff from the Geneva Human Rights Platform, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and invited experts briefed state representatives in Geneva about developments related to the work of UN treaty bodies (TB) and the 2020 TB Review in New York.

After a reminder on mechanisms established by the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their additional Protocols of 1977, the paper summarily frames the relationship between IHL and international human rights law and assess the competence and practice of political mechanisms emanating from the Charter of the United Nations, as well as of universal and regional treaty-based mechanisms.

Every year, at the Graduation Ceremony, three students are rewarded for their exceptional academic work via three prizes: the Henry Dunant Research Prize, the Best LLM Paper Prize and the Best MTJ Paper Prize.

Dr Ana Beduschi is a Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Exeter. Her research and teaching focus on international human rights law, technology, as well as international migration and refugee law. She just started as Visiting Fellow at the Geneva Academy and will stay with us until December 2019.

Published by the Geneva Academy and the Centre for Civil and Political Rights, this guide explores how a human rights-based approach can be used to complement and strengthen anti-corruption efforts.

The United Nations Human Rights Guidance on Less-Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement issued by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is the outcome of research and broad consultations carried out under the auspices of the Geneva Academy and the University of Pretoria.

In order to bring the substantive debates on the future of UN treaty bodies from Geneva to the political discussions in New York, the Geneva Human Rights Platform held with the Permanent Missions of Costa Rica and Switzerland a side event at the UN General Assembly in New York.

Coming from 18 different countries, they work as diplomats, lawyers as well as for NGOs, UN agencies, the International Committee of the Red Cross and academic institutions.

In an event co-organized with the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN in New York, two of the authors – Noam Lubell and Jelena Pejic – presented the 16 guidelines before a full room of delegates from the UN General Assembly First and Sixth Commissions, UN agencies, and experts.

The Senegalese government is engaged in a decades-old non-international armed conflict (NIAC) in Casamance. Our RULAC online portal provides a detailed analysis and legal classification of this NIAC, including information about parties to the conflict, its classification as a NIAC and applicable international law.

The book Modes of Liability in International Criminal Law, based on research undertaken under the auspices of the Geneva Academy intends to clarify the conditions of accountability for international crimes.

At an expert conference co-organized with the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, 30 UN treaty body (TB) experts, academics, national and international NGOs and governmental representatives discussed the implementation of a new mechanism aimed at improving the work of UN TBs, the TRIP: Technical Review of Implementation Progress.

Joshua Niyo is the first recipient of this new prize for his paper ‘Legal Obligations for Armed Non-State Actors: Can IHL and IHRL Learn from Each Other?’.

These Guidelines aim to bring much needed clarity and support for the conduct of effective investigations into violations of international humanitarian law. They are the result of a five-year project initiated in 2014 by the Geneva Academy and joined in 2017 by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Students of our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law just arrived at the Geneva Academy for a busy orientation week before courses start next week.

Students of our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights spent most of their summer working on their LLM papers: around 20 pages to discuss a specific issue in international humanitarian law and human rights in armed conflict.

Students of our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law worked throughout the summer on their master’s paper, in which they addressed specific transitional justice topics.

Our Strategic Adviser on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Senior Research Fellow Dr Christophe Golay participated this summer in a series of conferences and training courses on the implementation of the UN Declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas.

As Executive Director of the new Geneva Human Rights Platform, he will notably lead the development of this new platform to anchor it in international Geneva.

Ibrahim Salama is the Chief of the Human Rights Treaties Branch of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. He just joined the Geneva Academy as Visiting Fellow and will stay with us until end of 2019.

Our Strategic Adviser on international humanitarian, Dr Annyssa Bellal, has been invited to brief on 13 August – together with the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross Peter Maurer and the United Nations (UN) Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs Miguel de Serpa Soares – the UN Security Council on the Geneva Conventions.

As the Geneva Conventions turn 70, discover our current and past research projects aiming at clarifying the meaning of the Geneva Conventions in contemporary circumstances.

On the occasion of the Geneva Conventions 70th anniversary, our Director Professor Marco Sassòli discusses their importance and our contribution to their implementation. 

The Geneva Conventions turn 70 today. As an academic institution, we work every day to uphold knowledge of and respect for international humanitarian law and thus protect people affected by armed conflicts.

Ces cas ont été élaborés par notre Directeur, le Professeur Marco Sassòli, ainsi que par deux alumna de l’Académie – Anne Quintin et Juliane Garcia Ravel

Our two LLM students, Anna Lochhead-Sperling and Paula Padrino Vilela participated in the oral rounds of the Nelson Mandela Moot Court. A great opportunity to put into practice the human rights notions learned in class, meet other law students from all around the world and train public speaking and presentation skills.

This expert panel discussed nascent challenges in the sphere of evolving digital technologies and their impact on human rights.

Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Albie Sachs, Former Judge of the South African Constitutional Court, shared their incredible personal experiences of fighting for human rights.

The event provided a unique opportunity for discussion, analysis and debate in order to ensure the continued relevance of academia's contribution to the various branches of international law applicable to armed conflicts.

At a seminar, UN experts, civil society representatives and staff of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights discussed the role of UN human rights mechanisms in the implementation of the UN Declaration on the rights of peasants.

In an expert meeting organized at the Geneva Academy by the School of Law at Queen’s University Belfast, more than 30 academics and practitioners discussed reparations by non-state armed groups during and following armed conflicts.

Reports submitted by states in the context of the review of UN Treaty Bodies highlight wide support to the recommendations presented in our publication Optimizing the UN Treaty Bodies System.

At a meeting co-organized with the permanent missions of Costa Rica and Japan to the United Nations in Geneva, Geneva-based diplomats discussed the current status of the 2020 review of UN treaty bodies.

Rabaa Husain Makie Al-Juma is the Chief Editor and CEO of the Bariq Al Dana magazine, a member of the International Federation of Journalist (IFJ) and of its Gender Council, a board member of the Kuwait Journalist Association, and a consultant for the International Kuwait Educational Company.

Students attending this year’s academic track of our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law developed research proposals on a variety of transitional justice issues, often addressing new approaches and under-explored perspectives.

Mpho Somhlaba is a South African Diplomat responsible for humanitarian issues at the Permanent Mission of South Africa to the UN in Geneva and is currently enrolled in our Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict.

During one day, more than 100 experts, practitioners, academics, diplomats and representatives of NGOs, international organizations and National Human Rights Institutions discussed and debated the connectivity of human rights mechanisms.

The Geneva Academy team – Anna Lochhead-Sperling and Paula Padrino Vilela who are currently enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights – successfully qualified for the oral rounds in the Nelson Mandela moot court.

Experts discussed the detention and judgment of ISIS members, including foreign fighters and their families, in North-East Syria.

Our new publication addresses the handling of individual communications, tackles efficiency questions related to this procedure and outlines a series of key recommendations to improve the system, including the creation of a registry to provide substantive legal support to United Nations treaty bodies.

During one week, academics from China, Cuba, Indonesia, Iran Malaysia and Viet Nam deepened their knowledge and expertise of United Nations human rights mechanisms during a customized training course co-organized with the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights of the University of Oslo.

During three days, students of our Master of Advanced Studies in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law immersed, via a practical exercise and in the context of the 2019 Spring School, in the design and establishment of a truth commission to address past human rights abuses.

Our new publication The Right to Seeds in Europe focuses on the steps that the European Union (EU) and EU member states shall take, via the implementation of the UN Declaration, to better protect this right in Europe.

Ziad Ayoubi is the Head of Livelihoods and Economic Inclusion at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). He is currently enrolled in our Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict.

Our 2018 Annual Report is out! It provides an overview of our manifold research and education activities.

Our new publication brings attention to the devastating impact conflict has on persons with disabilities and highlights that many of the key international humanitarian law provisions that serve to minimize the impact of armed conflict are not being applied in a disability inclusive manner, resulting in persons with disabilities being killed, seriously injured or left behind as families flee armed attacks.

Maya Hertig Randall was nominated by the Law Faculty Teaching Body in replacement of Nicolas Michel who stepped down after ten years of presidency.

As in previous years, the 2018 Edition highlights that the majority of today’s armed conflicts – 51 out of 69 – are non-international, involving states and organized armed groups, a trend that has been highlighted since the first edition of the War Report back in 2012.

Students of our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law spent three days in Poland to look into transitional justice issues.

In the perspective of a conference co-organized with the Global Studies Institute (University of Geneva), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and the Canton of Geneva, we invite proposals that focus on the role of human rights mechanisms in implementing international humanitarian law.

In his new book published by Elgar International Humanitarian Law: Rules, Controversies, and Solutions to Problems Arising in Warfare Professor Marco Sassòli focuses on controversial issues and on the challenges facing the implementation of international humanitarian law in practice.

Professor Vincent Chetail becomes the New President of the Geneva Academy’s Board. He succeeds to Nicolas Michel, Professor Emeritus at the University of Geneva and at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies.

Our submission for the upcoming report of the United Nations Secretary-General – the final official input into the intergovernmental debate on the 2020 treaty body review  – summarizes the recommendations entailed in our publication Optimizing the UN Treaty Body System.

From 20 to 24 February 2019, students of our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights travelled to Belgrade where they met experts and institutions who work in the fields of international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and international criminal law.

Our new Research Brief Harmonizing War Crimes Under the Rome Statute discusses the need to harmonize the list of war crimes that can be committed in international armed conflicts with those that can be committed in non-international armed conflicts.

As part of our Transitional Justice Café series, Professor Fionnuala Ni Aolain discussed with students of our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law the links between transitional justice, security and counterterrorism.

As part of the Geneva Academy Fridays series, researchers from 20 countries briefed state representatives about their research on the national impact of the United Nations treaty bodies.

Our new Research Brief The Implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas discusses the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders, including states and United Nations human rights mechanisms, in implementing the UN Declaration.

Our Research Fellow Dr Jonathan Andrew represented the Geneva Academy at a two-day workshop on digital space and the protection of freedom of association and peaceful assembly in Africa.

Part of our multi-year project that focuses on human rights responsibilities and armed non-state actors (ANSAs), our new publication explores the particular aspects of state responsibility for human rights violations committed by ANSAs in its territory.

Our local partner in Vietnam, the Association for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, hosted a one day workshop as part of our research project Disability and Armed Conflict.

In Mexico, there has been armed violence between the government and a number of cartels, as well as between such cartels over the past decades. Our Rule of Law in Armed Conflict online portal concludes that Mexico and the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación are parties to a non-international armed conflict.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has been affected by several armed conflicts in recent decades. The regions that have been most affected are Kivu, Kasai, and Ituri, although violence is widespread and affects the whole country. Our Rule of Law in Armed Conflict Online Portal (RULAC) provides a detailed analysis and legal classification of these conflicts, including information about parties.

Academics, representatives of international organizations, members of UN treaty bodies, the private sector, business associations and civil society discussed the integration of a ‘gender lens’ to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

In the context of our research project on food sustainability and food systems, our Senior Research Fellow Dr Adriana Bessa carried out fieldwork in Kenya and Brazil to discuss the implementation of transformative pilot actions with local rural communities.

Since 2012, the Government of Mali has engaged in multiple and overlapping non-international armed conflicts (NIACs) against various insurgent groups. Our Rule of Law in Armed Conflict online portal provides a detailed analysis and legal classification of these NIACs, including information about parties to these conflicts.

In this interview, Naureen Rahim, currently enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, tells us about the programme and life in Geneva.

In this interview, Luisa Fernanda Gómez Betancur, currently enrolled in our Master of Advanced Studies in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law, tells us about the programme and life in Geneva.

At a meeting in Paris, members of United Nations (UN) human rights treaty bodies as well as staff from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, staff from regional human rights courts and academics discussed UN TBs individual communication procedures.

This War Report article provides detailed information about the history of the ongoing conflict in the Central African Republic, parties to the conflict, key developments in 2018 and war crimes allegations since July 2002.

In this interview, Harshwardhan Akolkar, currently enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, tells us about the programme and life in Geneva.

In this interview, Zoë Doss, currently enrolled in the Master of Advanced Studies in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law, tells us about the programme and life in Geneva.

Our new War Report article Democratic Republic of the Congo: Conflict in the Eastern Regions provides background information on the current violence in the county, recent developments and the main parties to the conflict in North and South Kivu, Ituri and Northern Katanga.

Our Rule of Law in Armed Conflict (RULAC) online portal provides a detailed analysis and legal classification of the various non-international armed conflicts that are taking place in Sudan, including information about parties to these conflicts.

The article Engendering the Right to Food? International Human Rights Law, Food Security and the Rural Woman, written by our Senior Research Fellow Dr Joanna Bourke Martignoni, examines how United Nations human rights mechanisms address the role and status of rural women in the context of food security and the rights to food and land.

Our publication No One will be Left Behind and its recommendations have been widely cited in Mary Robinson 's speech at the United Nations Human Rights Council inter-sessional meeting on human rights and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In this interview, Anthoula Bourolias, currently enrolled in the Master of Advanced Studies in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law (MTJ), tells us about the programme and life in Geneva.

Activities of the TBMP in 2018 included discussions on the harmonization of TBs, exchanges among peers and with external experts and other institutions on thematic issues, and briefings on the 2020 review of TBs by the UN General Assembly.

During one semester, as part of the course on transitional justice in practice, students of our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law formulated policies to tackle one of the most challenging questions in transitional justice (TJ) work today: the role of TJ during conflict or early post-conflict situations.

Ignacio Lepro, Eliška Mockova and Tori More, currently enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, will represent the Geneva Academy at the 31st Edition of the Jean-Pictet Competition that will take place in Obernai (France) from 16 to 23 March 2019.

Our new article The Syrian Conflict: Nearing the End? provides an overview of the current situation in Syria, details the role and involvement of the various armed groups in the multiple and overlapping non-international armed conflicts that are taking place throughout the country, and maps foreign involvement of countries like the United States, Turkey, Iran or Russia in the international armed conflicts that are ongoing in Syria.

The Government of the Philippines is involved in multiple non-international armed conflicts (NIACs) in Mindanao. Our Rule of Law in Armed Conflict online portal provides a detailed analysis and legal classification of these NIACs, as well as information about parties to these conflicts and recent developments.

On 10-11 December 2019, members of United Nations treaty bodies, as well as representatives of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Geneva Academy discussed the so-called simplified reporting procedure.

Our Rule of Law in Armed Conflict (RULAC) online portal provides a detailed analysis and legal classification of the non-international armed conflict (NIAC) between Nigeria and Boko Haram, a non-state armed group that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.

An update by the Co-Directors of our Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law, Frank Haldemann and Thomas Unger on the programme and 2018 class.

Our Senior Research Fellow and Strategic Adviser on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR), Dr Christophe Golay, trained Tunisian administrative judges on the adjudication of ESCR in a course organized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Bar Association Human Right's Institute and the International Legal Assistance Consortium.

In this public lecture, Professor Philip Sands explained – on the basis of  his research on two prominent founders of contemporary international law (Hersch Lauterpacht and Raphael Lemkin) and his own family’s experience – how international law has developed by protecting at the same time the individual (according to Lauterpacht's vision) and the group, with the success of Lemkin's endeavour towards a convention on the prevention and prohibition of genocide.

The War Report article The Eritrea-Ethiopia Armed Conflict provides detailed information about the history of this conflict, the peace process and the final Algiers Agreement, the deployment of peacekeeping operations until 2008, the work and conclusions of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) and the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission (EECC), as well as recent developments.

Our new publication Gender Responsive Due Diligence for Business Actors: Human Rights-Based Approaches focuses on the direct responsibilities of business actors to respect and, in some circumstances, facilitate gender equality guarantees under international human rights law.

The Egyptian Government is involved, in the Sinai Peninsula, in a non-international armed conflict (NIAC) against Wilayat Sinai, an armed group that has pledged loyalty to the Islamic State group. Our Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts (RULAC) online portal provides a detailed analysis and legal classification of this NIAC.

Our Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts (RULAC) online portal provides a detailed analysis and legal classification of the various non-international armed conflicts that are taking place in Colombia.

Our new Research Brief Human Rights and Food Sustainability identifies a number of international human rights standards that should be taken into account by law and policy makers when developing normative and policy frameworks governing food systems.

We co-organized on 29 November 2018 with the BCHR-network a consultation for the United Nations (UN) Working Group on Business and Human Rights to inform their new project on business in conflict and post-conflict settings.

Our Senior Researcher Alice Priddy led last week a workshop in Kiev – in partnership with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Global Protection Cluster in Ukraine – on the protection of persons with disabilities living in the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Around 60 diplomats participated in the briefing which addressed the upcoming review at the General Assembly and the outcomes of our Oslo Conference, co-organized with the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, on the meaning of this review for national stakeholders.

Our Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts (RULAC) online portal provides a detailed analysis and legal classification of the non-international armed conflict in Southern Thailand between, on the one hand, the Government of Thailand and, on the other, the Barisan Revolusi Nasional Coordinate and associated groups.

Besides an in-depth study of various areas related to transitional justice, human rights and the rule of law, three different tracks – Thematic Focus, Clinical Work or Academic Research – allow students to pursue their particular interests.

This War Report article presents an overview of the situation in Crimea, including the peninsula’s history, the 2014 annexation by Russia, the main actors involved – the Russian Federation Forces, the Ukrainian Forces and the Self-Defence Crimean Forces – and recent developments in 2018.