Call for Papers: for the 2026 Annual Conference of the Association of Human Rights Institutes (AHRI), 4 to 6 November 2026
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), the Global Campus of Human Rights and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
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.
Instructions for submissions:
We invite anyone interested in the Conference theme to submit proposals for papers
or panel discussions (both as a moderator or a participant) related to the discussion
and critical evaluation of the implementation of the two International Covenants and
the contributions of their respective Committees and the work of the Human Rights
Council and its mechanisms.
All proposals must clearly fall within and explicitly identify one of the following tracks:
• Track 1: 60 Years of Covenant Rights
• Track 2: International, Regional and Local Dimensions of Covenant Rights
• Track 3: From Norms to Accountability: The UN Human Rights Council and
its Supervisory Mechanisms
• Track 4: The Covenants and Council: Beyond 60 and 20
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
Important dates:
• The AHRI conference will be held on Wednesday 4, Thursday 5 and Friday 6
November 2026
• Deadline for submission of full papers: 10 September 2026
• Registration for the Conference opens: 1 June 2026
• Notification of proposal selection: 1 June 2026
• Due date for submission of proposals (papers, panel): 25 April 2026
For more details, refer here
