EUROMUN 2014 - Position Papers Assessment Report - UNHRC - Climate Refugees and Stateless Persons (original) (raw)
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UN treaty body grading systems their replicability to other UN HR bodies
The UN Committee against torture (CAT) adopted in 2015 an innovative system to follow up, assess and grade the implementation of its recommendations to States. The new follow-up procedure largely draws on the precedent established by the UN Human Rights Committee, although it is also more comprehensive. It offers a range of new opportunities for human rights defenders and practitioners both to increase the visibility on the implementation of CAT recommendations, as well as encouraging States parties to do more to comply with those recommendations. The CAT and the Human Rights Committee now stand at the forefront of an emerging trend of improved assessment of the implementation of UN human rights bodies’ recommendations. Despite the formidable potential which the evaluation and grading system provides, much remains to be done to make the most of them. They need to be better promoted and disseminated to a broad range of actors. They should also be harmonised and made more accessible. Other treaty bodies and fellow UN human rights bodies such as Special Procedures or the Universal Periodic Review should draw on the positive precedents established by the Human Rights Committee and the CAT. As other treaty bodies are considering the adoption of follow up and assessment systems, notably in preparation for the 2020 review, other UN human rights bodies could draw inspiration from the system established by treaty bodies to better follow and track implementation of their recommendations. The paper constitutes a contribution to the research question N°16 of the Geneva Academy academic platform on the 2020 review of treaty bodies
COURSE OVERVIEW : The course seeks to enhance International Development major students' understanding of the past, present and future of the United Nations. It also provides background information and analysis of major multilateral institutions working with the UN in the area of international development. The first part of the course is devoted to understanding the big picture of what the UN has done in the past, the current activities of the UN and the direction it is going. The main aim of this first part is to establish a firm foundation of how the UN works and to become familiar with its complex bureaucracy. The main focus of the second part of the course is to understand the nature of the problems confronted by the UN and international community in their efforts to maintain international peace and security, cooperate in solving international problems such as eradicate poverty, promote respect for human rights and sustainable development. The main purpose is to assess the UN efforts in addressing these substantive problems. Not only should the students be experts on the UN activity, by the end of the course they should develop a firm grasp on the major problems that characterize international politics and global governance. Through active classroom participation and the term paper, students will have opportunity to integrate their understanding of international politics within the specific context of the UN and affiliated organizations. Classroom discussions and related assignments require that students be up-to-date with current events that are related to the UN in order to provide their own perspectives on these issues during the in-class quizzes or when completing the reflection papers. By the end of the course, students will showcase their skills in making in-depth analysis and assessment of the UN performance in addressing problems of international community in their individual term paper.