A child stands in a destroyed build in g, the walls riddled with bullet holes.Kuito, Bie Province , Angola . (Panos)
The Centre promotes research on human rights practice, post-conflict justice, access to health, and children's rights.
The Centre also sponsors a public speakers series and occasional conferences, which bring together academics, human rights defenders, and the public to debate a wide range of pressing human rights issues.
The Centre engages in consultancies and partnerships aimed at expanding collaborative human rights initiatives.
Forthcoming Events
Conferences
Speakers Series - 2009/10 Programme
Past Events
Conferences
Easier Said Than Done: 20 Years of Children's Rights between Law and Practice
Please click here for further information
11th-12th June 2009, Institute of Child Health, UCL Lecture Theatre
Reconstructing Rwanda: History, Power and Human Rights - A Conference in Honor of Alison Des Forges
Please click here for programme details
Tuesday, 19th May 2009
Recovering Stolen Generations, Land and Culture: Indigenous Rights and Transitional Justice
Friday, 1st May 2009, Room N336, Senate House, University of London
Institute of Commonwealth Studies
Healing the Wounds: Speech, Identity and Reconciliation in Rwanda
Monday, 30th March 2009
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, New York CityReconstructing Rwanda: 15 Years After Genocide - A Tribute to Alison Des Forges
Friday, 20th March 2009, Institute of Commonwealth Studies
The Right to Education at 60: Do Existing Human Rights Commitments Go Far Enough to Ensure that All Children Get the Education They Need? This event is held in partnership with the Centre for Critical Education Policy Studies (CeCeps), the Institute of Education, and The Rights to Education Project.
Thursday, 11th December 2008, 4.30pm-7pm, Institute of Education
Hard Lessons: Rethinking Human Rights Advocacy
Conference to Commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
9th November 2008
25th Anniversary of the 1981 Declaration on the Elimination of Religious Discrimination
UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief and other honoured guests
24th-25th November 2006 (Prague)
Reinventing Development: Lessons from Rights-Based Practice and its Implications for Policy and Funding
1st-3rd December 2005
Speaker Series
Speaker Series 2008-09
Art after Auschwitz: Ethics, the Artist, and Representations of Genocide
Yvonne Kyriakides, Oxford University
Tuesday 17th March 2009, 5.30-7.30pm, STB8, Stewart House, University of London
Wednesday, 11th February 2009, 5.30-7.30pm
A Partnership Approach: Multi-Stakeholder Organisations & Labour Rights in Global Supply Chains
Dean Jones, Ethical Trading Initiative
Tuesday, 2nd December 2008, 6pm
Human Rights, Loyalty & Cosmopolitan Solidarity
Michele Lamb, University of Essex
Wednesday, 19th November 2008, 6.15pm
What can be salvaged from the Ugandan Peace Process?
Dr Phil Clark, Research Fellow, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Oxford and Co-editor of Courting Conflict: Justice, Peace and the International Criminal Court in Africa
Speaker Series 2007-08Thursday, 16th April 2008, 5.30-7.00 pm
Face/Off: Hong Kong 's Autonomy and Universal Suffrage
Phil C.W. Chan
Senior Visiting Scholar in Political Science, Vanderbilt University
Thursday, 13th March 2008, 5.30-7.00 pm
Stopping Genocide: The Will to Intervene & the Role of Canada
Frank Chalk
Director, Montreal Institute for Genocide Studies; Professor, Concordia University
(co-sponsored with the Canadian Studies Programme, Institute of Commonwealth Studies)
Wednesday, 12th March 2008, 5.30-7.00 pm
Dilemmas and Difficulties in the Work of Israeli Human Rights NGOs
Noam Hoffstater
Former Executive Director, Peace Now; Former Spokesperson, B'Tselem
Thursday, 6th March 2008, 5.30-7.00 pm
Justice Radio: Broadcasting the International Criminal Court's Work in Congo
Wanda Hall
Director, Interactive Radio for Justice; Former Outreach Advisor, Office of the Prosecutor, ICC
Tuesday, 29th January 2008, 5.30-7.00 pm
The Complexities of Complex Emergencies: A Panel Discussion
Mathieu Ndiaye: Policing & Peacekeeping in Kosovo
Former Police Officer, International Police Force, UNMIK
Carolyn Merry: Dilemmas of Humanitarian Aid in Afghanistan
Former Head of Mission , Médecins Sans Frontières
Aurélie Lamazière: Witnessing and Advocacy in Darfur
Former Advisor on Humanitarian Issues, Médecins Sans Frontières
Wednesday, 23rd January 2008, 1.00-2.30 pm
"Light on a Hill": Forging Freedom and Building the Constitutional Court in South Africa
Justice Albie Sachs
Constitutional Court of South Africa
2006-2007
Grassroots Activism & Democracy in Post-Apartheid South Africa
Sebastiana Anna Etzo, Research Fellow, Institute of Commonwealth Studies
Fiona White, Former Researcher, Centre for Policy Studies ( Johannesburg ); Ph.D candidate, Institute of Commonwealth Studies
15th March 2007
Making Right: Drafting New Human Rights Instruments on Age & Indigeneity
Dr. Nazila Ghanea-Hercock, University of Oxford
Dr. Alexandra Xanthaki, Brunel Law School
Bridget Sleap, HelpAge International
8th March 2007
Suffering into Stone: Commemorating Violent Conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina
Dr. Brian Phillips, Oxford Brookes University
7th March 2007
Advocacy with Footnotes: Human Rights Reporting & the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Ron Dudai, Former Researcher, B'Tselem
28th February 2007
Genocide, Feminicide and Social Cleansing in Guatemala
Professor Victoria Sanford, Department of Anthropology, Lehman College, City University of New York
2nd November 2006
Gacaca Courts in Rwanda : Some Personal Reflections
Nadège Degris, former Coordinator of Gacaca Research, Penal Reform International ( Kigali )
26th October 2006
2005-2006
Human Rights in Mexico
Claudia Donaji Jimenez Rodriguez, Comité Cerezo
Alejandro Cerezo Contresas
6th April 2006
West Papua: Genocide in Paradise
Benny Wenda & Paul Kingsnorth, Co-Directors, Free West Papua Campaign
9th March 2006
The Global Accountability Project
Monica Blagescu, One World Trust
2nd March 2006
Amnesty International Activism Project
Brian Dooley, Amnesty International
9th February 2006
Protecting War-Affected Children: The Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict
Joy Namayanja (former in tern UN SRSGCAC) and former MA student
24th January 2006
Our Struggle Against Torture - Former Detainees Speak of their Experiences at Guantanamo Bay
Speakers: Airat Vakhitov, Rustam Akhmyarov, accompanied by Fatimat Tekaeva (mother of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Rasul Kudayev) and Russian journalist Orkhan Dzhemal
17th November 2005
A Rights-Based Approach to Development: Critical Aspects of Practices on the Ground
Bimal Kumar Phnuyal
3rd November 2005
Women Organising against the War in Columbia
Jackeline Rojas, Organización Femenina Popular
26th October 2005
Human Rights in Angola
Luis Samacumbi, Angola Congregational Church
20th October 2005
Book Launches
Book launch of Le Château: The Lives of Prisoners in Rwanda
Carina Tertsakian: Former Researcher and Campaigner, Amnesty International & Human Rights Watch
Introduced by Fergal Keane
7th February 2008, 5.00-8.00 pm
Book launch of Understanding Amnesty International
Dr Stephen Hopgood (SOAS) will speak about his new book
18th October 2006
Book launch of The No-Nonsense Guide to Human Rights
Paul Gready will give a short presentation about the book
3rd October 2006
The Centre's research focuses on several cutting-edge themes: human rights practice, justice and reconciliation after violence, genocide, indigenous rights, and children's rights.
Recent research grants :
2006: Netherlands Foreign Affairs Ministry (£37,000) to hold conference on the 25th Anniversary of the 1981 Declaration on the Elimination of Religious Discrimination ( 24 - 25 November 2006)
October 2005: Canadian International Development Agency (£22,000) to host a major international conference on rights-based approaches to development (1-3 December 2005).
October 2004-September 2005: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (£20,200) for a research project on rights-based approaches to development.
PhD Students (2008-2009)Mariya Ali, The Impact of Islamic Law on the Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
Riona Govender, A Rights-Based Approach to Health Systems: An Examination of National Antiretroviral Delivery in South Africa and India
Jennifer Melvin, Reconciliation and Post-Genocide Rwanda: Can Forum Theatre Help?Kirrily Pells, Rights-Based Approaches with Children and Young People in Post-Genocide Rwanda
The Centre seeks to expand its partnerships with NGOs and agencies for the MA placement programme, trainings, externally funded consultancies, and collaborative events.
Damien Short has worked for a number of NGOs including War on Want, International Work Group on Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), Wasase Movement (International Indigenous Rights). He is currently a member of the Soil Association's 'Ethical Trade Taskforce'.We welcome expressions of interest in the joint hosting of trainings, events, and conferences; the continuing provision of guest speakers to our MA programme; and creative ways of engaging with our large alumni network.
