2024 UNDP Annual Meeting on Rule of Law and Human Rights: Human Rights Risks – Prevention and Response in Action

Hybrid Event — Washington D.C.

June 6, 2024
2024 UNDP Annual Meeting on Rule of Law and Human Rights — Human Rights Risks — Prevention and Response in Action Hybrid Event
Event Details

27 June 2024

11:00 - 12:30 EDT

Washington D.C.

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UNDP is committed to promoting the rule of law, equal access to justice and protecting human rights as critical elements of sustainable development. Fundamental to the SDG’s and central to UNDP’s integrator function are strong partnerships that deliver agile, integrated solutions to bring positive changes in people’s lives. UNDP and its Global Programme for Strengthening the Rule of Law, Human Rights, Justice and Security for Sustainable Peace and Development (Global Programme) embed partnerships at the heart of its programming on rule of law, human rights, justice and security working across the UN system with Member States and civil society.

The Global Programme is anchored to the Secretary-General’s priorities on prevention and sustaining peace, especially in contexts affected by crisis, conflict and transitions, as well as to Our Common Agenda.

 

Human Rights Risks – Prevention and Response in Action

The Secretary-General has described human rights as “a critical foundation of sustaining peace”. In a global context where we witness the highest number of conflicts since 1945, human rights need to be realized as a “problem solving mechanism” for contemporary development challenges and utilized more proactively as an essential tool for prevention.

Working with a range of national partners, UN actors, think tanks and civil society, UNDP will curate a discussion on the intersection of the contribution of human rights to early warning, prevention and risk management in fragile and conflict-affected contexts.

The discussion will focus on how early warning can become early targeted action: based on the early warning data, indicators collected through human rights analysis and the impact of human rights mechanisms on the national prevention landscape. The meeting will spotlight the role of independent oversight bodies such as national human rights institutions. These actors can play a critical role in monitoring the human rights context, but also in creating a culture of human rights through promoting human rights education, awareness and advocacy in societies and for marginalized groups. There is a recognition that prevention and recovery in crisis settings require a ‘whole of society’ approach with stakeholders of every kind having a role to play.

The discussion will also highlight how transitional justice works at the nexus of human rights, development and peace and security to address legacies of mass human rights violations and build resilient communities through people-centred truth-seeking initiatives and reconciliation efforts. Lastly, the private sector and businesses can exert substantial influence to either fuel or ease tensions. In the latter instance, this is often the result of upholding the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and conducting appropriate and heightened human rights due diligence in conflict settings to identify and address any adverse human rights impacts. These efforts will assist development actors in proactive management of human rights risks and build the resilience of societies to prevent and recover from conflicts.

Banner of event on human rights risks - prevention and response in action

The Annual Meeting will be held in hybrid format to enable exchange on the current development context in relation to the rule of law, human rights, justice and security. Participants will include high-level UN officials, Ministerial-level national counterparts, UN Member States, stakeholders from across the UN system, as well as representatives from think tanks, academia, the private sector and civil society.

Translation in French and Spanish will be available.

Please register here for in-person or online participation.

The Global Programme will also hold its dedicated Partners Advisory Group meeting to present key achievements and challenges, as well as to brainstorm for joint solutions. This will be a closed event by invitation only.

The UNDP annual meeting will be held following the World Bank Justice and the Rule of Law Global Forum: Fostering Inclusive and Sustainable Development which will take place on 25-26 June. UNDP is one of the co- hosts of this World Bank event. UNDP senior management will be present in a High-Level Plenary session: Access to Justice for All: Closing the Global Justice Gap along with UNDP and national partners participation in some of the deep dive sessions. The Forum will take place in the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

 

Agenda

Thursday 27 June

Session 1

Closed event – by invitation only 
9:00 -10:30 EDT 
In-person and online

Partners Advisory Group Meeting: Rethinking the Role of Rule of Law, Security and Human Rights in Building State and Community Resilience to Crisis and Fragility

This session will explore new and innovative programmatic approaches to the current rule of law, security and human rights challenges within the global context of crisis and fragility. Based on practical examples from the field, emerging best practices will be shared to discuss how they can be applied to effectively deliver justice and security through a more anticipatory and preventive response.

10:30-11:00
Coffee Break
Session 2   
11:00 -12:30 EDT 
In-person and online

Human Rights Risks – Prevention and Response in Action 

This session aims to build consensus across human rights, development, humanitarian, transitional justice and private sector actors on the different approaches to effectively utilize human rights for prevention. We will examine how human rights can be used as a problem-solving tool, particularly in crisis contexts, by managing risk proactively for both prevention and response. It will highlight the importance of strengthening human rights actors, alongside new tools and data powered by innovation, and contribute to a greater understanding of risk and rights-based approaches for more powerful early warning and prevention capacities.

12:30-13:30
Networking lunch

 

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