Posts Tagged ‘Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies’

Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies focuses on human rights defenders

May 1, 2025

A European project of the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, presents a round-up of the latest and most innovative research on the European Union’s role in an evolving global context in a quarterly newsletter, featuring summaries of key findings and access to more in-depth discussions through EU-RENEW webinars, blogs and podcasts.

The eighth issue focuses on human rights defenders.

Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) often stand on the frontlines of global struggles—exposing injustice, seeking accountability, and working to prevent further rights violations. While the European Union has long been committed to the protection of HRDs, shrinking civic space and democratic backsliding within its own borders have exposed troubling gaps: from limited pathways for HRDs to enter or remain in the EU, to the criminalization of HRDs’ work and the rise of strategic lawsuits designed to silence them.

In its latest blog, Anna Puigderrajols Triadó examines the EU’s evolving approach to HRDs and the urgent need for stronger, more consistent protections.

Some recommendations:

Human Rights Violations Committed Against Human Rights Defenders Through the Use of Legal System: A Trend in Europe and Beyond Aikaterini-Christina Koula. Human Rights Review, 25, 2024This article explores the growing weaponization of legal systems to silence human rights defenders, particularly in Europe, developing a taxonomy of legal tactics used against HRDs

Just Pathways to Sustainability: From Environmental Human Rights Defenders to Biosphere Defenders, Claudia Ituarte-Lima et al. Environmental Policy and Law, 53(5-6), 2023

Building on the concept of Environmental Human Rights Defenders, the authors advance a new concept of ‘Biosphere Defenders’ and a ‘Defend-Biosphere Framework’ to analyse the role of these actors as agents of change in pathways towards just sustainability.

The environmental rule of law and the protection of human rights defenders: law, society, technology, and markets Elif OralInternational Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, 24, 2024, This article considers the importance of legal regulation and state intervention for creating a safe and just space for the activities of the Environmental Human Rights Defenders.

Gender-Transformative Remedies for Women Human Rights Defenders. Aleydis Nissen Business and Human Rights Journal, 8(3), 2023. This article explores gender-transformative remediation – which should bring change to patriarchal norms and unequal power relations – for women human rights defenders who fight against corporate human rights abuses.

https://mailing.kuleuven.be/r-6064b8a35903338e724c198e434dd5c3cb5e5e10d2d00f5d

Posted in books, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , ,

Human Rights Accountability of Non-State Actors – lecture in Leuven

February 14, 2018

The Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies is organising the SPRING LECTURE SERIES 2018 under the theme: UNDER SIEGE: HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE RULE OF LAW.

On Monday 26 February 2018 – from 11h00 – 13h00 – (Tiensestraat 41, Leuven) Dr. Kasey McCall-Smith will speak about “Human Rights Accountability of Non-State Actors (MNEs, NGOs, …): the Next Frontier”.

[The negative impact on human rights by business activity has been the focus of much academic and public policy debate. In no other field of law has the stubbornness of the public and private international law divide been exposed more starkly and with such devastating effects for individuals. Human rights law discourse has spent the last two decades debating the impact of business activity on human rights and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights was hailed as a great victory. But, as rightly noted by the Special Rapporteur on Business and Human Rights, the UN Framework and Guiding Principles was simply the end of the beginning of the debate. International law has yet to catch up with the realities of business activity and its impact on human rights and the environment. This lecture will look at the key soft law developments of the past decade, the push to ‘harden’ these soft law initiatives, and examine a case study on smartphone supply chain management to elaborate the difficulties of reconciling human rights accountability and abuse by non-state actors. The legal issues raised in respect to multinational enterprises will also be considered in light of increasing pressure to hold other non-state actors to account, such as international organisations and NGOs. Ultimately, the lecture will contribute ideas about how to move forward on the next human rights frontier.]

Dr. McCall-Smith is a lecturer in Public International Law and programme director for the LLM in Human Rights. She is a US qualified lawyer and holds a BA in Architectural Studies (1998) and Juris Doctor (2001) from the University of Arkansas. Dr McCall-Smith was awarded an LLM (2002) and a PhD (2012) for her thesis on ‘Reservations to Human Rights Treaties’ by the University of Edinburgh. She is currently the Chair of AHRI, the Association of Human Rights Institutes. McCall-Smith’s research focuses primarily on treaty law and how treaties are interpreted and implemented at the domestic and supranational levels. Ensuring clarity in the law of treaties, specifically in reference to reservations to human rights treaties, is a major theme that she has pursued. She interested in the role of the UN human rights treaty bodies as generators of law. The increasingly blurred distinction between public and private international law in terms of human rights protection is another of her research interests.

Participation is free, but register by Friday 23 February at the latest

see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2016/06/07/leuven-centre-for-global-governance-studies-organizes-new-mooc-on-human-rights-as-from-21-june/

https://mailchi.mp/kuleuven/event-414449?e=bf340a3bd5

Posted in human rights | Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies organizes new MOOC on human rights as from 21 June

June 7, 2016

The Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies is an interdisciplinary research centre of the Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Leuven, Belgium, led by prof. Jan Wouters. It carries out and supports interdisciplinary research on topics related to globalisation, global governance processes and multilateralism, and has been recognised as a KU Leuven Centre of Excellence [http://ghum.kuleuven.be/ggs/].

It has just announced a new MOOC (Massive Open Online Course). The previous edition on ‘EU and Human Rights’ reached more than 8,000 students worldwide. Starting on 21 June 2016 and running for 6 weeks, the MOOC provides a basic course on human rights using FRAME research results, targeting undergraduate students and other people interested in the topic, such as international organizations and NGO staff. It will be offered free of charge and will include a collection of videos of lectures and teaching materials.

See also https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2015/06/19/the-moocs-are-coming-to-human-rights-education-thanks-to-ai-and-edx-partnering/

For more information and enrollment: https://www.edx.org/course/eu-human-rights-kuleuvenx-euhurix-0

Posted in films, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,