Association of Human Rights Institutes
December 2021

Dear colleagues,

Welcome to December's newsletter. We hope everyone is looking forward to some rest and respite before the next semester. 

If you are a Member Institute who would like to share news, events, or vacancies, or other types of call, instead of sending an email, please follow this link Newsletter Link

This month our featured institute is the  Centre for Human Rights & Peace (CHRP), University of Nairobi.

 

AHRI News
  • The Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, will host the AHRI 2022 conference at its Future Africa campus on 2-3 September 2022, preceded by a doctoral/early researcher workshop on 1 September. The theme of the conference will be technology and human rights with panels on the following themes:

        Track 1: Surveillance and vulnerability

        Track 2: Survival and sustainability

        Track 3: Democratic participation and accountability 
 
    • Abstracts and panel proposals should be submitted to the organisers by 31 March 2022. The full call for papers will be available in January 2022.
    • The conference will be presented in hybrid format with the possibility of presenting papers in person or online.
    • Enquiries: magnus.killander@up.ac.za

 

  • Applications: The deadline for new member institute applications is May 31, 2022. Find out more here 
Featured institute
The Centre for Human Rights and Peace (CHRP), University of Nairobi, Kenya

The Centre for Human Rights and Peace (CHRP) was established in 2008 and is domiciled in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Faculty of Arts University of Nairobi. The Centre runs a post graduate program in human rights and peace. Since its establishment, the programme has grown very rapidly. The Centre undertakes collaborative multidisciplinary teaching, training, research, consultancy and community service in human rights and peace, and currently spearheads a Master of Arts Degree in human rights at the University. The CHRP is an active member of the AHRI Network. 

Vision: A respected and internationally acclaimed thematic area committed to excellence in teaching, research and the development of holistic students and society.

Mission: To provide a conducive environment for scholarly articulation of wisdom, beliefs, values and ideals of humanity with a focus on how these may contribute to the quest for a just, peaceful and prosperous world.

Core Values: Objectivity and fairness, Commitment to human values, Quality education, Team work and collegiality & Professionalism.

The CHRP in collaboration with the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) on December 12,  2021 launched the Haki's Journal of Human Right, an annual peer-reviewed academic journal covering human rights studies and practices, natural and legal rights. The Journal aims at to providing an academic forum for human rights theory, practice and advocacy by encompassing all aspects of human rights across professional and geographical boundaries. Members are encouraged to submit papers for publication.

Our contacts:

hakijhr@uonbi.ac.ke or editorhakijhr@uonbi.ac.ke

Click here to learn more
AHRI Members' News

FRA ( European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights) 

Selected recent publications:

Selected upcoming publications:

  • Strengthening guardianship for unaccompanied children

  • Handbook on European law relating to the rights of the child – Update 2021

  • Charter e-guidance and case studies: translation of new online tools (currently available in EN here under Charter e-courses) into French

Selected recent events:

Selected upcoming events:

Other information of interest:

·       Check FRA publications here

·       Check FRA news here

·       Subscribe the FRA newsletter here

 

 

Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice, Sheffield Hallam University, UK

Laundering Cotton: How Xinjiang Cotton is Obscured in International Supply Chains

Professor Laura Murphy’s new report – Laundering Cotton – is an investigation into how forced-labour-produced cotton and cotton-based goods from the Uyghur Region wend their way into international supply chains.

Find out more here.

 Some of the press releases mentioning the report can be found by the links below. 

The Washington Post

The Globe and Mail 

European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights

Domestic Abuse Disclosure Schemes: Problems with Policy, Regulation and Legality

Dr Jamie Grace's book "Domestic Abuse Disclosure Schemes: Problems with Policy, Regulation and Legality" examines Domestic Abuse Disclosure Schemes, in the form of 'Clare's Law' policies, that have spread from England and Wales to an increasing proportion of the common law world: Scotland and Northern Ireland, New Zealand, parts of Australia, some provinces in Canada, and more. These policies are predicated on police forces warning the partners of abusers about domestic violence perpetrated in the past of those abusive partners. This book explores why the evidence that these Schemes actually prevent serious harm is overall patchy, and currently unconvincing. This book makes an argument for the evaluation and reappraisal of a piece of public protection policy which might currently be serving as sticking plaster on the shortcomings of wider public policy aimed at preventing violence against women. This book draws on the emerging body of research on Domestic Abuse Disclosure Schemes and contributes original insights and analysis of its own. 

Find the book here. 

BBC 100 Women 2021 List: Baroness Helena Kennedy QC 

 BBC has revealed the list of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2021. One of them is Sheffield Hallam University chancellor Baroness Helena Kennedy QC. Read more here. 

PRECIOUS Award for Dr Sunita Toor

Dr Sunita Toor, Head of Human Rights and Social Justice, won a PRECIOUS Award in the Outstanding Women in Public Sector category in recognition of her work leading a project to improve access to justice for women and girl victims of violence in India. Read more here.  

AHRI Members' events and calls
  • Call for Applications: BA Human Rights & Social Justice 2022/23
  • Call for Papers: Proposal call for conference: Women, Climate and Insecurity
  • Call for Papers: Human Rights Education and Grassroots Activism

Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice, Sheffield Hallam University, UK

Call for Applications

BA Human Rights & Social Justice 2022/23 

We are excited to announce the launching of our new degree BA Human Rights & Social Justice in September 2022. Find out more about this dynamic course designed to give you a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary understanding of human rights and social justice. Read more here.  

Scholarship Opportunities

Helena Kennedy Centre Sanctuary Scholarship

Sheffield Hallam University offers three Sanctuary Scholarships per academic year to support talented students who have sought asylum in the UK. One of them is the Helena Kennedy Centre Sanctuary Scholarship for MA or LLM Applied Human Rights course. Read more here. 

Commonwealth Shared Scholarship Scheme

Commonwealth Shared Scholarships are for candidates from the least developed and lower middle income Commonwealth countries. Start MA Applied Human Rights in September 2022. Find out more here. 

The GREAT Scholarship for justice and law

The GREAT Scholarships for justice and law are jointly funded by Sheffield Hallam University with the UK government’s GREAT Britain campaign and the British Council. They are exclusively for students domiciled in Nigeria and India, starting one of the following full-time postgraduate taught courses in September 2022. The scholarship provides a £10,000 tuition fee waiver for the first year of study on one of the following courses: 

-MA Applied Human Rights

-LLM Applied Human Rights

-MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice

-LLM Legal Professional Practice

Read more here.

Human Rights Institute, Binghamton University, USA

Call for Papers

Deadline: Dec. 15, 2021

Women, Climate and Insecurity

The Helena Kennedy Centre of Sheffield Hallam University and Human Rights Institute at Binghamton University invite proposals for our conference on Women, Climate and Insecurity to be held via Zoom 28-30 April 2022. 

As the United Nations Environment Programme marks its 50th anniversary, this conference invites scientists, social scientists, humanities scholars, policymakers, legal experts, and activists to think across sectors and disciplines about climate crisis and the injustices, disparities, insecurity, and militarized responses crisis often incurs. We encourage feminist analyses of and responses to growing climate-driven insecurities and their effects on women and other marginalized populations. The conference aims to create a dialogue between policymakers, activists, and academics from diverse disciplines about the goals and methodologies we can use to create a more liveable and just future.

Topics and themes may include:

-Feminist solidarity in the face of climate insecurity
-Global disparities in energy use, extractivism, and exported military and agri-toxins
-Anti-colonial, decolonial, and feminist responses to climate insecurity
-Epigenetic effects on women’s health and reproductive health of environmental degradation and poisons
-Marginalized voices and re/building ecofeminist archives
-Feminist creative responses to climate crisis and militarized insecurities
-Feminist jurisprudence and climate crisis
-Globalization, monopolization and control over women/nature/fecundity
-Feminist approaches to the intersection of armed violence and climate insecurity
-Continuums between war, climate chaos, and “everyday” violence against women
-Towards a pedagogy of women, climate, peace, security
-Feminist economic theory and climate insecurity
-Local knowledges and global eco-feminisms

Confirmed keynote speakers:
Lorena Aguilar, FLASCO (Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences in Costa Rica)
Vidhya Das, Agragamee
Baroness Helena Kennedy QC

Submissions:
Please send abstracts of 250 words and a short professional bio to hri@binghamton.edu. Panel submissions of up to 500 words, with a short bio for each presenter, are also welcome. We encourage non-traditional, interactive panels and presentations. 

We aim to shape a workshop space that includes non-academic partners. We are happy to work with you to shape contributions.

Deadline for submissions: December 15.

If you have questions, please contact Alexandra Moore at amoore@binghamton.edu.

UCD Centre for Human Rights Ireland

Call for Papers

Deadline: February 4, 2022

Lead Editor: Suzanne Egan

The recent rise of social movements such as Black Lives Matter, Fridays for Future and #MeToo has been one of the most potent forces of human rights mobilisation to have emerged at the global level in decades. At a time when the international human rights movement has come increasingly under fire for its colonial framing, excessive professionalisation and legalistic strategizing, attention has turned to the contrasting success of these grassroots movements in capturing public attention and empowering victims and communities to initiate social as well as legal change.

Human rights education (HRE) through diverse means - from public education initiatives, storytelling and engagement in formal and non-formal settings – has clearly been a critical factor in the evolution of these movements and in contributing to the success of their respective struggles. The involvement of young people in these movements has been particularly striking. At the same time, human rights mobilisation by NGOs and local voluntary sector groups in many countries (including single issue groups, local community groups, faith-based organisations, and charities) with varying degrees of formalisation and resources, is also evolving. Such groups and organisations regularly engage in both formal and informal HRE initiatives. Their aims include raising awareness of current social problems, community empowerment, to building a culture of human rights. NGOs and grassroots organisations have also played a crucial role over many years in helping to develop the HRE policies and programmes of international organisations such as the UN and the Council of Europe. 

While scholarship on HRE includes consideration of the evolution and practice of HRE by NGOs and grassroots organisations, theoretical and empirical literature in the field focuses predominantly on HRE in formal settings, particularly in schools. Yet much can be learned from the wide range of HRE practices engaged in by NGOs and grassroots organisations, as well as the challenges encountered by such groups in meaningfully engaging HRE as a tool of activism that can serve to inform the theory and practice of HRE in multiple contexts. HRER has, to date, included only a few examples of such work (see Hall, 2019; Bittar, 2020).

For this special issue of Human Rights Education Review, we encourage papers from a range of perspectives and from different national and international contexts to address this gap in the literature. To this end, we invite empirical research articles, case studies, and conceptual articles covering, but not limited to:

• The role of HRE as a tool of grassroots human rights activism at local and global levels
• Methodologies and pedagogies of HRE in grassroots campaigns
• Human rights education and the digital space 
• The contribution of grassroots organisations to the conceptual and institutional development of HRE
• Challenges in implementing HRE in non-formal settings
• Human rights activism in the formal education sector
• HRE and youth activism.

Please send an extended abstract of no more than 250 words to Managing Editor Marta Stachurska-Kounta at marta.m.stachurska-kounta@usn.no with the email subject line: HRER Special Edition HRE and Grassroots Activism by 4 February 2022. Abstracts will be reviewed and the authors informed no later than 25 February 2022 if we would like to invite the full paper for review. All invited manuscripts will be subject to double-blind peer review. Full manuscripts are due by 29 April 2022, and the Special Issue will be published in Vol 6(1) in January 2023.

Reminders: AHRI Members' Events and Calls
  • Call for Applications: Master's Degree Programme in International Law and Human Rights 2022-2024

  • Call for Contributions: European Yearbook on Human Rights 2022

Institute for Human Rights, Åbo Akademi University, Finland

Call for Applications

Deadline: December, 31, 2021

Master's Degree Programme in International Law and Human Rights 2022-2024

The Master's Degree Programme in International Law and Human Rights is a two-year full-time programme designed to prepare its graduates for challenging careers in international organizations, non-governmental organizations, public administration or legal practice. It offers students the possibility to profile themselves in different specialisation areas, such as international human rights law, migration and refugee law, international law and conflicts, and general international law. Studies within the programme equip students with expert knowledge, provide the requisite background for advanced research, and develop the practical application skills. The programme is open to those holding a bachelor's degree in law or another bachelor's degree with at least 45 ECTS credits in law or other relevant subject(s).

Application period (for the programme starting in August 2022): 5 – 19 January 2022

Click here for more information.  

Click here to learn how to apply. 

European Training and Research Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, University of Graz, Austria

Call for Contributions

Deadline: March, 2022

European Yearbook on Human Rights 2022

The European Yearbook on Human Rights is shedding light on current human rights topics of concern and the most pressing issues that impair human rights protection, the rule of law and democracy in Europe and beyond. With special sections dedicated to the three main organisations securing human rights in Europe (EU, Council of Europe and OSCE) as well as a section on cross-cutting issues the Yearbook provides much-needed analysis and insightful commentary. 

The Yearbook is supported by three major Austrian human rights institutions dedicating their work to researching, teaching and promoting human rights – the European Training and Research Centre for Human Rights and Democracy of the University of Graz, the Austrian Human Rights Institute of the University of Salzburg and the Vienna Forum for Democracy and Human Rights – and the Global Campus of Human Rights, Venice. It is published by Intersentia and all contributions are subject to a double-blind review process ensuring the highest academic standards.

We welcome submissions concerning human rights developments within the major European institutions namely the EU, the CoE and the OSCE. Articles concerning a topic not related to one of the aforementioned institutions but dealing with current and topical human rights developments will be taken into consideration as well. 

Authors will be invited to submit full contributions based on an abstract (max 500 words) that should be send by 15 December 2020. Abstracts should be submitted with a short bio to lisa.heschl@uni-graz.at. 

The deadline for submitting the manuscript is end of March 2022.

 

For further information on the European Yearbook on Human Rights, click here.

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