IX Summer School on Human Rights (2022)
IX INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL
"SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS, HUMAN RIGHTS AND GLOBAL CHALLENGES"
(July 11 - July 15, 2022, Yekaterinburg)
July 11-15, 2022, IX Summer School on Human Rights "Sustainable Development Goals, Human Rights and Global Challenges" was held at the site of the Government of the Sverdlovsk Region. < /p>
The Summer School is held as part of the project of the interuniversity Master's program "International Protection of Human Rights", successfully implemented by Consortium of Russian Universities with the support of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The organizer of the Summer School is the Ural State Law University named after V.F. Yakovlev.
The Summer School is held to support the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) campaign "Stand up for someone's rights today".
3 clusters are planned as part of the Summer School: Right to Health, Business and Human Rights, Right to a Clean Environment. Each of the clusters is dedicated to one of the sustainable development goals.
The participants of the Summer School will be presented by UN experts, employees of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, representatives of state authorities of the Sverdlovsk Region, professors and leading lecturers of international law departments of Russian universities, well-known Russian human rights activists and representatives of non-governmental organizations.
The Summer School will be held in two languages (Russian and English). Classes will be held in the morning and afternoon in the form of intensive lectures, round tables, seminars and competitions. A focus on practical problem solving will help develop participants' human rights skills and provide a link between theory and practice. Student teams will take part in a model UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Special events are planned: an interactive master class for schoolchildren "SDG for youth: first acquaintance" and a joint event with the Ministry of International and Foreign Economic Relations of the Sverdlovsk Region "Business and women's rights: a paradigm shift" .
The Summer School will become a platform for meetings, consultations, discussions with scientists, practitioners and officials. The participants will have an excellent opportunity to expand professional ties, gain new knowledge and share experience in the field of human rights protection.
Concept
SDGs, Human Rights and Global Challenges Summer School will focus on protecting human rights and advancing the SDGs in the age of globalization. The school's mission is to raise awareness of the global human rights and SDG challenges and identify best practices for successfully addressing these challenges.
Global calls are the flip side of globalization. Values such as development, prosperity, freedom, justice and human rights coexist with injustice, inequality, poverty and abuse. At the same time, globalization is turning the world into a global market run by powerful TNCs. They seek profit first and foremost, especially in the global South, which jeopardizes the implementation of the SDGs and human rights. From this point of view, at the global level, the benefits and challenges are unevenly distributed among countries and peoples. Global action is needed at all levels to advance the essential human rights values and realize the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
An agenda based on international human rights standards aims to leave no one behind in the face of globalization, affirms the imperatives of equality and non-discrimination for all people in the world, and promotes economic, social , cultural, civil and political rights and the right to development. The universal nature of the SDGs and human rights allows them to be integrated into policies at the global and national level. Sustainable development involves an approach to human well-being based on three components: economic development, environmental sustainability and social inclusion.
To overcome global challenges, the joint efforts of governments, international organizations, corporations, universities, NGOs and civil society are needed. The 2030 Sustainable Development Goals cover almost all aspects of human activity, so their achievement depends on concerted action by governments, NHRIs, civil society, the private sector and international partners. In a global world, global business and global civil society institutions play an important role in realizing the SDGs and advancing human rights. The goals of society and its groups may be different, but the Sustainable Development Goals provide a framework for comprehensively addressing all the global challenges facing the world, including climate change, the migration crisis, the pandemic, environmental protection and terrorism, and offer human rights defenders an important tool to fight with social injustice based on a holistic approach.
It is important to remember that the challenges of achieving the SDGs and ensuring universal human rights are before us in the digital age. In order to achieve this in the real world, you need to do it in the digital space. New communication technologies contribute to social transformation, raise awareness and strengthen the protection of human rights in the international system, change to a horizontal relationship between public and private actors, encourage development based on equality and participation, empower citizens to protect their rights and create a global civil society that can work with governments, international organizations and companies to promote international human rights standards. New technologies are impacting the human rights agenda and are needed by the public and civil society to monitor, detect and address human rights violations. On the other hand, information and communication technologies (ICTs) can put human rights at risk.
Particular attention will be paid to human rights violations against the backdrop of the challenges the world faces today, including poverty, inequality, discrimination, armed conflict, violence and terrorism, impunity, restrictions on freedom and weak institutions . Within the framework of the summer school, they are grouped into three main topics: business and human rights (goal 8), the right to health (goal 3), the right to a clean environment (goals 12 and 13).
One of the main themes will be the significant impact of digitalization. It addresses development and human rights challenges and threats associated with digitalization, including: online human rights violations, new human rights arising from the dissemination, storage and use of information on the Internet (the right to be forgotten), the protection of personal data, surveillance, dissemination of hate speech and fake news, digital divide, robotization and job cuts, use of information technology and robots for military purposes against civilians, digital literacy.
As part of the summer school clusters, discussions will take place on the main topics at the international, regional and national levels. At the international level, we will talk about the UN human rights instruments and mechanisms (HRC, UPR, special procedures and treaty bodies), the role of the UN mechanisms, their work and the main problems that the UN human rights monitoring system in Russia deals with. Regional mechanisms will be considered as part of the review of ECtHR judgments on human rights violations in the context of global challenges. An assessment will be made of national legislation and the provision of human rights by state bodies by comparing good and ineffective practices at the regional and international levels. Such a three-level structure (international, regional, national levels) of the three clusters will provide a comprehensive understanding of the human rights protection system and increase awareness of best practices in overcoming global challenges related to the SDGs and the protection of human rights.
As part of the academic partnership between the Consortium members and OHCHR in Russia, the summer school will support the OHCHR campaign “Stand up for human rights (#Standup4humanrights”), aimed at promoting human rights and broad participation, as well as the campaign “All people, all are equal”, which is dedicated to Human Rights Day this year. It aims to achieve equality, inclusion and non-discrimination, which are at the heart of human rights and sustainable development.
Goals
- Tell students about the close relationship of the SDGs with human rights and the role of UN human rights instruments and mechanisms in advancing the SDGs in the face of global human rights issues.
- Create a space for dialogue between youth and various stakeholders, including NHRIs, human rights defenders, civil society, NGOs, international organizations and companies, in which they can share practical experience in ensuring human rights and achieving the SDGs in the face of global challenges;
- To strengthen the practical skills of students in the field of protection and promotion of human rights based on a simulation of a session of one of the UN treaty bodies (CESCR).
Summer School Program - 2022
Media
Day 1
Day 2
Lectures and practical exercises
3rd day
Lectures and practical exercises
Day 4
Lectures and practical exercises
Master class with schoolchildren