This is to remind that the 9th International Conference on Human Rights Education Call for Papers will close on Monday 16 July.

See attached flyer

You are warmly invited to join the Western Sydney University Open Forum titled “The Struggle of Identity Politics in India” with Special Guest Speaker Professor Anwar Alam, Senior Fellow, Policy Perspectives Foundation, New Delhi.

See  2018-07-25-Identity-Politics-in-India-Open-Forum-Invitation.pdf

The Forum will be held on 25 July 2018 5:30pm for 6pm start at Female Orphan School, Parramatta South Campus, Building EZ, West Wing

This is a free event and open to the public.

The 9th International Conference on Human Rights Education will be held at Western Sydney University’s Parramatta South Campus on 26-29 Nov 2018. The call for papers will close 16 July. See www.ichre2018.com.au  #ichre2018

Checks and balances built into the legal system in Venezuela appear to have been eroded, leaving state security forces unaccountable for some 500 questionable killings, warns United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the report “attests to the need for political dialogue and a fully inclusive political solution” in the country, says deputy spokesman Farhan Haq.

The Hon. Alan Tudge MP, Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, has announced the appointments to the Australian Multicultural Council for 3-year term starting on 22 June 2018. The new Council is made up of five current and eight new members; I have been asked to continue as the Council’s Chair for another three years.

Australian Multicultural Council is a national body established to advise Federal government on a range of issues relating to multicultural policies and programs with special focus delivering cohesive and harmonious Australia with opportunities for all. For more about the council see: http://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/alantudge/Pages/expanded-australian-multicultural-council.aspx

I am delighted to be able to continue my work with the government to advance programs and policies aimed at building strong, integrated, and cohesive communities. Our vibrant multicultural society is a result of the successful integration of migrants around shared values of respect, equality, and freedom. Integration ensures that newcomers can contribute to our economic prosperity and participate fully in our society.

My sincere thanks to a number of you who have written to congratulate me on my reappointment. In particular, I wish to thank you Ms Mary Patetsos, the Chairperson of the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia for her warm congratulations on behalf of FECCA.

Read the recent global update on human rights by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein to the 38th session of the Human Rights Council; see https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23206&LangID=E

In his opening remarks he reminded the Council about serious gaps in understanding human rights even amongst the UN officials. Many governments deny that human rights are universal and only sourced from a Western tradition. This is not further from the truth.

The international conferences on human rights education (ICHRE) work to address this lack of knowledge. They are a series of dialogues on human rights education as a means of promoting democracy, the rule of law, justice, and intercultural and social harmony. For more about past conferences see: www.westernsydney.edu.au/equity_diversity/equity_and_diversity/conferences.      

Join me at the 9th ICHRE to be held in Sydney, 26-29 November 2018. It will coincide with the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 25th anniversary of the education-oriented Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action and cover the range of human rights education issues such as national and international curricula, pedagogy and best practices.

For more information on the 9th ICHRE, including on registration and proposals for paper and workshop presentations, see www.ichre2018.com.au.

See below an important article about human rights in North Korea.

https://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/politics/23435-michael-kirby-agitates-for-north-korea-to-be-confronted-on-human-rights-record?utm_source=LawyersWeekly&utm_campaign=14_06_18&utm_medium=email&utm_content=1

The world is less peaceful today than at any time in the last decade.

The 2018 Global Peace Index, released today, reveals a world in which the tensions, conflicts, and crises that emerged in the last decade remain unresolved, resulting in a gradual, sustained fall in peacefulness. The largest contributors to the deterioration in the last year were the escalations in both interstate and internal armed conflicts, a rise in political terror and reduced commitment to UN peacekeeping. Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Iraq and Somalia are the least peaceful countries whilst Iceland, New Zealand, Austria, Portugal and Denmark are the most peaceful countries.

For more information see: http://visionofhumanity.org/reports/

I would like to draw your attention to this year’s Venice Academy of Human Rights which focuses on “Migration, Mobility and Diversity: New Horizons for Human Rights”, under the coordination of François Crépeau, former U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants and Hans & Tamar Oppenheimer Chair in Public International Law, with the distinguished opening lecture held by Rainer Münz, Adviser on Migration and Demography to the European Political Strategy Centre (EPSC).

The programme is specifically open to academics, practitioners, Ph.D./J.S.D. and master students.

Online applications are accepted until 23 May 2018 through the online form available from: https://eiuc.org/education/summer-shools-and-training-programmes/summer-school/venice-academy-of-human-rights/application.html 

I would be grateful if you could help us disseminate to colleagues, fellows and researchers who may be interested in attending.

I delivered a keynote at the three days long Conference for National Human Rights Institutions of South Asia in Kathmandu titled “Identifying Challenges, Assessing Progress, Moving Forward: Addressing Impunity and Realizing Human Rights in South Asia.”

My keynote has dealt with human rights and social cohesion – see attachment below.

In addition, I delivered lectures at:
. The School of Arts, Kathmandu University (organised by Dean Sagar Raj Sharma);
. Department of Conflict, Peace and Development Studies of Tribhuvan University (by A/Prof. Bijaya Dahal);   and
. a lecture organised jointly by the National Law College affiliated to Tribhuvan University (invited by NaLC Executive Director Dr Ram Krishna Timalsena) and the School of Law, Kathmandu University (by Dean Bipin Adhikari)

My visit to Kathmandu was a great opportunity to advertise the 9th ICHRE and re-fresh/establish contacts with key leaders of human rights organisations in South Asia, and some countries from South-East Asia, participating in the conference.

Many thanks for hospitality extended to me by our Ambassador to Nepal, Mr Pete Budd and Dr Surya Dhungel (Chair of the Board of National Law College, Senior Advocate to Supreme Court and former long term legal adviser to President of Nepal).

It was great to talk about human rights advances in Nepal since 2006 with Mr Manohar Prasad Bhattarai, Secretary General, Legislature Parliament; Hon. Surendra Pandey MP, former Minister of Finance and current member of the Standing Committee CPN (UML) and many others.

2018-05-08 Kathmandu Nepal Conference Paper