Event information

15-16 October 2018

70 years Universal Declaration of Human Rights – A Time for Concern or Celebration?

Event

November 1949, Eleanor Roosevelt of the United States holding a Universal Declaration of Human Rights poster in French. November 1949, Eleanor Roosevelt of the United States holding a Universal Declaration of Human Rights poster in French.

To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), this conference in Berlin, co-organized with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Forum Menschenrechte and the German Institute for Human Rights, will discuss the significance of the UDHR today:

  • How relevant is the UDHR in times that see the rise in both horizontal and vertical inequality as well as increasing political instability?
  • How has the international human rights landscape, as well as concrete human rights priorities changed over the last 70 years? Is the scope of rights still adequate to the human situations in the 21st century?
  • And to what extent can current international human rights instruments be utilized to achieve some of the standards outlined in the Declaration?

UDHR Berlin

MORE ON THIS THEMATIC AREA

Mô Bleeker News

UNSG Special Adviser Mô Bleeker Becomes Senior Fellow at the Geneva Academy

15 April 2025

Mô Bleeker, UNSG Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect, shares how her work as Senior Fellow at the Geneva Academy contributes to our shared goals.

Read more

GTI Logo News

In Highlight: Global Torture Index

26 June 2025

Via its DHRTTDs Directory, the Geneva Human Rights Platform provides a comprehensive list and description of such key tools and databases. But how to navigate them? Which tool should be used for what, and by whom? This interview helps us understand better the specificities of the current highlight of the directory: Global Torture Index

Read more

A general view of participants during of the 33nd ordinary session of the Human Rights Council. Training

The Universal Periodic Review and the UN Human Rights System: Raising the Bar on Accountability

10-14 November 2025

This training course will explore the origin and evolution of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and its functioning in Geneva and will focus on the nature of implementation of the UPR recommendations at the national level.

Read more

Project

Follow-up Review Pilot Series

Started in November 2021

Read more

Plastic pollution on an Italian shore Project

Unpacking the Human Right to a Healthy Environment: Definition, Implementation and Impact

Started in January 2022

This research aims at mainstreaming the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment and the protection it affords in the work of the UN Human Rights Council, its Special Procedures and Universal Periodic Review, as well as in the work of the UN General Assembly and UN treaty bodies.

Read more

Cover of the 2023 Geneva Academy Annual Report Publication

Annual Report 2024

published on July 2025

Read more