Welcome to AHRI's May newsletter. We hope that this month's newsletter finds you all well. Registration for the  AHRI 2023 Conference is now open, find out how to register below, we hope to see you there! 

- AHRI Secretariat 

The Annual AHRI Network Conference for 2023 will be hosted by Pedro Aruppe Human Rights Institute, The University of Deusto. 

The conference will take place September 7-9, 2023. The theme of the conference will be ” Human Rights Defenders Under Seige.”

Please make sure to register before July 7, 2023 using the link below. 

The Global Justice Academy (GJA) is an interdisciplinary research centre aimed at understanding the meaning of justice across different fronts, including in local, regional and international spheres. The GJA aims to support researchers across different stages, including post-graduate, PhD, early career and established scholars to develop research that can positively impact their social environments. 

A key focus of the GJA is impactful research that engages with the needs of the local community. Based in Scotland, the GJA has been highly involved with civil society in using international human rights law and practice to support advocacy campaigns for the incorporation of human rights into Scots law. Students on its flagship course, the LLM in Human Rights, have also worked to develop studies highlighting gaps in human rights protections under existing national law as part of the Human Rights Clinic and the Work-Based Placement program.

In addition to supporting impactful research, the GJA facilitates multiple events throughout the year to bring international human rights experts to Edinburgh to offer a global perspective on human rights. Recent guests have included Ms Mama Fatima Singhateh, UN Special Rapporteur on the Sale and Sexual Exploitation of Children, and Ms Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. Additionally, since 2017 the GJA has served as the AHRI Secretariat in conjunction with the University of Strathclyde Centre for the Study of Human Rights Law

To learn more about what the GJA has to offer use the link below. 

• Call: Strathclyde Centre for Doctoral Training in Human Rights- based Decision Making, Centre for the Study of Human Rights Law, University of Strathclyde, UK 
• Call: International Conference on Realising Children’s Development Rights in De Facto States. Maastricht University, Netherlands
• Call: Workshop: Frames of European Human Rights - How are climate change, migration, and authoritarianism framed within the Council of Europe?, The Hertie School, Germany 

Centre for the Study of Human Rights Law, University of Strathclyde, UK 

Call for Applications

Deadline: 9 June, 2023

 Strathclyde Centre for Doctoral Training in Human Rights-based Decision Making 

The newly launched Strathclyde Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Human Rights-based Decision Making in inviting applications for three PhD studentships. The PhD projects affiliated with this CDT should enhance understanding of the complex challenges and opportunities related to human rights-based decision making by a range of actors/institutions in the public, private, and third sector. The CDT’s aim is to bring together a cohort of postgraduate researchers to build interdisciplinary skills and knowledge needed to help tackle the major challenges of translating international legal protections into more just institutions, processes, and equitable outcomes for people in their everyday lives.  

The interaction between human rights-based decision making and data-intensive technologies is the theme for the phase of projects beginning in 2023.  

The CDT supervisory team includes academics in Law, Humanities, Computer and Information Sciences, Government and Public Policy, and Economics. 

Please visit the webpages below for further info on each project: 

Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, Univeristy of Geneva

Events 

The Geneva Human Rights Platform (GHRP) Training Hub

The Geneva Human Rights Platform (GHRP) Training Hub, a project of the Geneva Academy, organizes training courses – in Geneva and online – on the work of United Nations (UN) human rights mechanisms and on specific human rights issues like the protection of human rights and the environment or human rights and the Sustainable Development Goals. It also provides customized training courses for international organizations, NGOs, governments, or National Human Rights Institutions.

Relying on our wide network of international experts and practitioners, both formulas provide participants with practical knowledge and insight into the functioning of UN human rights mechanisms.

Upcoming training courses:

The International Human Rights Standards and System: Monitoring and Implementation Strategies at the National Level – 3-7 July 2023

This training course will delve into the means and mechanisms through which national actors can best coordinate their human rights monitoring and implementation efforts, enabling them to strategically navigate the UN human rights system and use the various mechanisms available in their day-to-day work.

Business and Human Rights – 4-8 September 2023

This training course will examine how the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights have been utilized to advance the concept of business respect for human rights throughout the UN system, the impact of the Guiding Principles on other international organizations, as well as the impact of standards and guidance developed by these different bodies.

Protecting Human Rights and the Environment – 18-22 September 2023

This training course will explore the major international and regional instruments for the promotion of human rights, as well as with their implementation and enforcement mechanisms; and provide practical insights into the different UN human rights mechanisms pertinent to advancing environmental issues and protecting environmental human rights defenders.

The Universal Periodic Review and the UN Human Rights System: Raising the Bar on Accountability – 13-17 November 2023

This training course will explore the origin and evolution of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and its functioning in Geneva and will focus on the nature of implementation of the UPR recommendations at the national level.

Find ou tmore using the link below. 

Maastricht Centre for Human Rights, Maastricht University, Netherlands

Call for Abstracts

Deadline:  11 June, 2023

International Conference on Realising Children’s Development Rights in De Facto States.

The Children’s Rights Research project in collaboration with the Maastricht Centre for Human Rights is organising a child-led conference on the rights of children in de facto states. The conference will be held in two stages. An online event will be held on 28 October 2023, followed by an in-person event on 17-18 January 2024 in northern Cyprus. The online event will be completely child-led, and provide input for the in-person event. The in-person event will be led by academics, humanitarians and activists, based on the input provided by children during the online event.  The ultimate aim is to have children, academics, humanitarians activists, and others engage in meaningful conversation that will contribute to ensuring that all children - even those in the midst of political and legal conflict - have equal access to development rights.

To find out more follow the link below.

The Hertie School Centre for Fundamental Rights, Berlin, Germany

Call for Applications

Deadline: 23 June, 2023

Workshop: Frames of European Human Rights - How are climate change, migration, and authoritarianism framed within the Council of Europe?

The workshop is hosted by the Centre for Fundamental Rights with the support of the Volkswagen Foundation and in collaboration with Helmut Schmidt University.

We invite contributions to critically analyse the emergence or shifts over time of the frames with regard to climate change, migration, and authoritarianism. What are the assumptions and terminology underpinning discussions of authoritarianism in Europe? What understandings of nature and its relation to the economy and human beings accompany discussions of climate change in the Council of Europe context? 

Read the full call using the link below. 

• Call: International Human Rights Law: An Introduction Course, Netherlands Institute of Human Rights ( SIM), University of Utrecht, Netherlands
• Event: Conflict and International Law: A Field- Based Training Course, Human Rights Centre, University of Essex, UK

Netherlands Institute of Human Rights ( SIM), University of Utrecht 

Call for Applications

Deadline: 14 June, 2023

International Human Rights Law: An Introduction Course

The Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM) will run its annual Summer School, International Human Rights Law: An Introduction, from 3 July to 7 July 2023 inclusive. The Summer School provides participants with an in-depth introduction into law and practices relating to: civil and political rights, economic and social rights, armed conflict, and regional human rights systems. The course is taught by experts based at SIM, Utrecht University, through lectures, interactive working groups, a moot, and excursion. It is attended annually by professionals and students from across the global, with an interest in gaining expertise in human rights law. Further information about the Summer School can be found using the below link. 

Human Rights Centre, University of Essex, UK 

Event 

31 July - 4 August 2023

Conflict and International Law: A Field-Based Training Course

The Essex Human Rights Centre presents a week-long practical development course, covering a range of topics related to the field of humanitarian aid, UN and diplomatic work. Taught by Human Rights Centre Fellow and leading practitioner in the field, Dr Conor Foley, the programme runs over five days and consists of a mixture of lectures, interactive exercises, skills and scenario-based activities, equipping participants with a realistic grounding in the challenges they are likely to face in the field.

31 July to 4 August : Colchester Campus
Use the link below to find out more and to register.