This year’s Conference will be held on Saturday 5 March 2016 at the University of Nottingham and will examine the achievements and failures of the UN Human Rights Council within the context of the UN human rights system as a whole. Keynote speakers with experience in NGOs, UN institutions, and academia will present their various insights on the Council and the human rights system.

We are pleased to announce this year’s keynote speakers:

Mr Karim Ghezraoui, Chief Officer a.i., Special Procedures Branch, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights;

Dr Rosa Freedman, Senior Lecturer at Birmingham Law School, University of Birmingham

Ms Aoife Hegarty, Programme Manager at Universal Periodic Review Info, Geneva;

Ms Lucy Richardson, PhD Candidate at the Graduate Institute, Geneva, and former member of the New Zealand Permanent Mission to the UN.

In addition to the plenary sessions, there will be four Student Panels. In the morning, conference participants can choose between:

Panel 1: The political dynamics of the Council: a continuing legacy of the Commission?

Panel 2: Case studies: UN human rights principles in action

In the afternoon, the two concurring panels will be:

Panel 3: From margin to centre: reporting mechanisms and the Universal Periodic Review

Panel 4: Human rights and vulnerable groups: challenges for the UN

The full programme can be found here. More information is also available on the event’s Facebook page and Twitter via #StuConf16.

 Tickets are available for purchase at the UoN Online Store. A discounted early bird rate is being offered until Saturday 27 February 2016.