News - The Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights

4 October 2022

The 35 professionals enrolled in our Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict have just started their programme with two courses: an introductory course on international law and the international legal order and a course on international humanitarian law (IHL).

Since this academic year, the programme takes place entirely online: an easy and interactive platform allows participants to interact directly with professors and other students during classes and access all the courses’ materials and readings. In case a participant is unable to follow a specific class, she/he can watch the recordings afterwards.

‘While our Executive Master was launched in 2011 as an in-person programme, it is now fully online to allow practitioners based in the field – who often work in conflict-related situations – to follow it. For those in Geneva, the online option allows them to even better combine their work with their studies by bringing more flexibility and avoiding commuting time’ explains Professor Gloria Gaggioli, Director of the Geneva Academy.

‘Having field-based practitioners in this programme also tremendously enriches exchanges in class with concrete cases that allow putting in perspective the legal concepts learned in class’ she adds.

During nine months, participants will deepen their knowledge of the law applicable to armed conflicts via 16 courses covering international law, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, international refugee law and international criminal law, as well as on contemporary issues and challenges like terrorism or the responsibility to protect.

‘This programme provides participants working in the field or at the multilateral level with the tools to understand and master the rules governing contemporary armed conflicts. As these conflicts become more and more complex, such knowledge is key to developing a comprehensive analysis of a given context and devising appropriate solutions’ explains Professor Gaggioli.

The 35 participants come from 20 different countries and work for the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Federation of the Red Cross, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Doctors without Borders, Geneva Call, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, as well as for governments, law firms or armed forces.

Graph showing the geogaphical representation of students enrolled in the Executive Master

Geneva Academy

Graph showing theprofessional backgrounds of students enrolled in the Executive Master

Geneva Academy

The online Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict is one of the few part-time, innovative and intellectually challenging programmes in the law of armed conflict offered today.

Designed for professionals, it provides strong theoretical and practical knowledge and responds to the growing need for specialists to address complex contemporary conflicts.

This executive programme runs for nine months (beginning of October until the end of June) and admits around 40 practitioners annually. After the end of the courses and exams in June, participants have one additional semester to submit a master’s paper.