Video
The Prevention Council
3 February 2020
For the UN’s prevention agenda to work, it is vital to build a business case for placing human rights at its heart.
URG Insights
Is digital technology rotting British and American democracy from the inside out
by Marc Limon, Executive Director of the Universal Rights Group
The rapid evolution and spread of digital technology are already having a major impact on the enjoyment of civil and political rights around the world, and on the ways in which democracies function. Some of those impacts are undoubtedly positive. Digital technology, for example, allows citizens to scrutinise the actions and decisions of government officials (e.g. in the context of corruption) to degrees that would have been unimaginable only a decade ago. It also makes it easier for citizens to connect with candidates and their elected representatives, while social media and online campaigns have helped strengthen the civil and political…
previous URG Insights
Scotland taking a child rights based approach further than ever
by Dragan Nastic, Strategic Lead - UNCRC, UNICEF UK
On 2 September: “The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill” was tabled in the Scottish Parliament to incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into Scots law. This is a significant moment in realising a widely shared vision of ensuring all children and young people growing up in Scotland have their human rights respected, protected and fulfilled. Children, young people, their families and wider civil society, including UNICEF UK, have been working towards UNCRC incorporation for very many years. The journey began back in 1991 when the UK first ratified…
The Tik(Tok)ing of privacy rights in the digital era: the need for an international framework to protect data privacy
by Siri Swayampu, former URG NYC
Research estimates that over half of the world’s population is online every day and over 90% of the population aged 6 and older will be online by 2030. The onset of the coronavirus pandemic saw a sustained surge in online activity across the world. Beginning as a breakthrough in communications, the internet phenomenon has since transformed into a revolution that is embedded in every sector from commerce to education. Although internet continues to empower communities around the world, it also ushers in distinct, lethal risks to the data privacy of individuals. ‘TikTok,’ the social media app that is presently a…
Rapid expansion of ‘Magnitsky-style’ human rights sanctions regimes underlines need for international coordination and norms
by Marc Limon, Executive Director of the Universal Rights Group
Although July and August are traditionally ‘slow’ months for both governments and the UN, this year they have coincided with an explosion of interest in, and movement towards, so-called ‘Magnitsky-style’ sanction regimes – geared towards holding those guilty of serious human rights violations to individual account. First out the block in early July was the UK, which on 6 July launched a new Magnitsky-style Global Human Rights (GHR) sanctions regime. The new law allows for asset freezes and travel bans to be imposed on individuals and organisations around the world in response to their involvement in serious human rights violations.…
UK education scandal has made explicit what has long been implicit: children’s equal right to a quality education is systematically violated in the UK
by Marc Limon, Executive Director of the Universal Rights Group
One of the most entertaining exposés of the recent scandal in the UK around A-Level (for 18 year olds) and GCSE results (for 16 year olds), and in particular the automatic, computer-generated (via an algorithm) downgrading of kids from State schools in poorer parts of the country, was undoubtedly provided by James O’Brien of LBC radio. Speaking on 14 August, he explained that the offending algorithm (which automatically punished pupils from poorer areas and underperforming State schools, as compared to their more wealthy, privately educated peers) had merely made explicit something that had previously been implicit – namely, that the…
latest policy report
On 18-19 November 2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands with the support of the Universal Rights Group (URG) hosted…
previous policy reports
A World Made New: Beyond COVID-19 to a low-carbon, resilient and inclusive world
In the midst of the COVID-19 public health emergency and economic crisis, as we yearn for the social contact and cultural activities that define our…The Prevention Council: The business case for placing human rights at the heart of the UN’s prevention agenda
UN efforts over the past thirty years to shift its approach to crises and conflicts from reaction to prevention have largely failed for two main…The Human Rights Council in 2019
‘The Human Rights Council in 2019’ report aims to provide, inter alia: A written analysis of the main events and development at the Council in…OSLO+1 - International support for the national implementation of UN human rights recommendations, including as a contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals
On 10 May 2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden and the Swedish Agency for International Development Cooperation (Sida), in cooperation with the Universal…URG next event
The Glion Human Rights Dialogue 2020 (‘Glion VII’): ‘Human rights in the digital age: making digital technology work for human rights’
By invitation only
The Glion Human Rights Dialogue is a retreat bringing together around sixty senior policy-makers and other stakeholders in an informal, non-attributable setting designed to promote open, forward-looking and solutions-oriented debate. This year’s Dialogue, which is organised by the Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the URG, in partnership with the Permanent Missions of Botswana, Fiji, Iceland, Mexico, Senegal, and Thailand, will ...future events
past events
-
09 Sep 2020
-
09 Jul 2020
-
09 Jul 2020
-
03 Jul 2020
-
03 Jul 2020
URG explainers
Coming soon
