Call for Papers: Conference of the Association of Human Rights Institutes (AHRI) 2026, 4-6 November 2026
Enduring Contributions and Challenges: The 60-Year and 20-Year Legacies of the International Covenants and the Human Rights Council
Geneva, Switzerland
Co-organized by the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights (in collaboration with the Law Department of the Geneva Graduate Institute and the Faculty of Law of the University of Geneva), and the Global Campus of Human Rights
The 2026 Annual Conference of the Association of Human Rights Institutes (AHRI) coincides with the 60th anniversary of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), both adopted in 1966. The year 2026 also marks the 20th anniversary of the inauguration of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Marking these milestones, the AHRI Annual Conference 2026 will focus on “Enduring Contributions and Challenges: The 60-Year and 20-Year Legacies of the International Covenants and the Human Rights Council”.
The Conference will take place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 4 to 6 November 2026 and is co-organized by the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights (Geneva Academy) (in collaboration with the Law Department of the Geneva Graduate Institute (IHEID), and the Law Faculty of the University of Geneva (UNIGE)), and the Global Campus of Human Rights.
The Conference aspires to bring together scholars, practitioners, policymakers, diplomats, researchers, independent human rights specialists, and members of civil society organisations to discuss and critically evaluate the implementation of the two International Covenants and the contributions of their respective Committees (the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), and work done under the Human Rights Council.
The AHRI Conference 2026 will be held as a hybrid event, allowing participants to engage either in person or remotely. At the moment of registration, participants will have to choose the modality of their participation. Remote attendees will join the different sessions via a virtual meeting platform.
We welcome proposals for papers and panel discussions engaging human rights scholarship in conversation with all disciplines and methodologies, connecting the institutional perspective and content of the two International Covenants, and the work of the Human Rights Council, with broader questions of a legal, normative and empirical nature.
Submission procedure: Proposals for papers and panel discussions should be submitted by 25 April 2026 to the following email: ahri2026@geneva-academy.ch
For more details, refer here
