Concept note
2026 is a year of important anniversaries for the global human rights community. It marks sixty years from the adoption (and fifty from the entry into force) of the two 1966 International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and 20 years from the adoption of the International Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and on Enforced Disappearances, from the entry into force of the OPCAT and from the establishment of the UN Human Rights Council. Such a wealth of important commemorations, however, is taking place in a framework of continuous and generalised attack on basic human rights in every corner of an increasingly warmongering world as well as on the institutions and norms of multilateralism, on which the global human rights movement has built its legitimation and support. International law is delegitimised and cast aside by the great powers and their allies, there is a growing state divestment in the UN and the international human rights system, UN organisms are bypassed, and its experts are discredited, even sanctioned. In addition, there is a return of a top down ‘primacy’ in decision-making at the national level, which is taking the form of a complete neglect of the contribution of civil society, whose space of action has been increasingly shrunk nationally to transnationally over the last decade.
This trend within international political arenas appears to be facilitating a reconfiguration of the composition of civil society actors engaged in agenda-setting and decision-making processes. The presence of actors whose interests seem to diverge from the genuine strengthening of mechanisms of legitimacy and the effective realization of human rights (anti-preneurs) is now more mainstream, exerting discernible influence in certain domains, for example, that of women’s rights.
From this standpoint, the referred milestones offer a critical juncture and a much needed stimulus a) to assess whether, how and to what extent the development of human rights law and its international safeguarding and monitoring mechanisms and procedures have materialized into tangible protections for all, particularly vulnerable and marginalised communities, and b) to explore and discuss what ideas and practices could be advanced, at the sub-national, national, transnational and global levels, to make this protection regime more inclusive, effective and transformative. Digging into this framework, this international research conference aims to take stock of the international human rights machinery's evolution and impact, as well as to discuss its possible transformations ahead.
On one side, it will examine the effectiveness of existing monitoring mechanisms that have a bearing on human rights protection, including treaty bodies (especially the ICCPR, ICESCR, CED and CRPD), the Human Rights Council’s mechanisms, and the International Criminal Court, whose work is severely impeded by the above outlined trends. It will critically assess the effectiveness of different monitoring procedures, reporting mechanisms, and remedial pathways in a period of the persisting liquidity crisis and attempts at reforming and rationalising the system, which risk further weakening it. A specific focus will be devoted to how and to what extent these mechanisms adequately serve diverse populations, including persons with disabilities, persons who suffered enforced disappearances and torture and other groups facing situations of vulnerability and marginalisation, and to the role and composition of transnational civil society organisations, including formal and informal participation channels.
On the other side, the Conference will explore how current human rights machinery contributions can be further empowered, while being rationalised, to face the shrinking moral and practical investments of many states, especially in the Global North, in their work and authority. It expects to address a number of possible areas of investment including the role and potential of youth and of hybrid social movements on current channels of civil society participations, the added value of transformative human rights education, the contribution of public authorities, including local governments and National Human Rights Institutions, and the potential and risks of new technologies and AI in assessing and monitoring human rights policy performance.
In this way, the conference will not be merely retrospection or commemoration of historical milestones, but a strategic dialogue among scholars, independent experts, international officers, civil society representatives and students on reloading international human rights monitoring for contemporary challenges and future aspirations in a reinvigorated and more inclusive and effective multilateral architecture.
The International conference is organised by the Human Rights Centre “A. Papisca” together with the UNESCO Chair Human Rights Democracy and Peace and with the support of the Department of Political Science, Law and International Studies of the University of Padova.