Online Global Campus Classroom 2021: Covid-19 Pandemic and Economic and Social Rights

Hosted by: Global Campus South East Europe (GC SEE) / European Regional MA programme in Democracy and Human Rights in South East Europe (ERMA), University of Sarajevo and University of Bologna

Dates: 7-10 June 2021, 12:00-15:00 CEST

Opening event: Monday, 7 June at 12:00 CEST

REGISTER HERE: http://bit.ly/GC-Classroom2021-Day1

The Global Classroom is one of the flagship annual activities of the Global Campus of Human Rights (GCHR) designed to bring together students, professors and experts from our seven regions. It is a research programme focussed on topic of current interest, different every year, whereby students and alumni from across the Global Campus network study, analyse and discuss their research topic through the lenses of regional perspectives. Global Classroom 2021, hosted by the Global Campus South East Europe / European Regional MA programme in Democracy and Human Rights in SEE, will take place online from 7-10 June 2021.

This year’s research topic is the Covid-19 Pandemic and its impact on Economic and Social Rights worldwide. COVID-19 is a global public health emergency without parallel since 1918 and has affected not only the right to health but also a range of other socio-economic rights. Millions of people are out of work, lack adequate social protection, and have been unable to pay for essential needs. Those who are marginalised and disadvantaged by income and non-income indicators, however, are exposed to even greater risks, experience more extreme forms of deprivation and discrimination, and are denied the right to health, right to education right to work and a range of other socio-economic rights.

The research carried out by the seven Regional Research teams shall be presented and discussed throughout the four day online event and will provide analysis and critical reflection in response to the following questions: In which ways has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted economic and social rights of individuals and groups, including the dynamics and dialectics of these interactions and the role of social resilience in meeting these challenges? How have responses to COVID-19 revealed pre-existing weaknesses in access to economic, cultural, and social rights by groups and communities that are relatively disadvantaged? How might long-term approaches for mitigating future human rights harms like those caused by COVID-19 be developed and implemented in future crises?

The Opening event on the 7 of June at 12:00 (CEST) shall be open for public and live streamed through GCHR channels. It shall be opened by Manfred Nowak, Global Campus Secretary General, Verónica Gómez, Global Campus President, and Asim Mujkić, ERMA/GCSEE Co-director, University of Sarajevo. Key Note Speech shall be given by Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health. Introduction to the Global Classroom will be given by Rachel Kurian, this year’s Global Classroom Research Coordinator from the Institute of Social Studies (ISS, Netherlands) and GCSEE/ERMA.

The High level Expert panel moderated by Thérèse Murphy, EMA Chairperson and Co-founder of the GC Human Rights Preparedness, will host the following speakers: Meskerem Geset Techane, Member of the UN Working Group on discrimination against women and girls; Gino Strada, Founder, Emergency, Italy; and Joshua Castellino, Executive director, Minority Rights Group.

The Global Campus of Human Rights is a unique network of more than one hundred participating universities around the world, seeking to advance human rights and democracy through regional and global cooperation for education and research. This global network is promoted through seven Regional Programmes which are based in Venice for Europe, in Sarajevo/Bologna for South East Europe, in Yerevan for the Caucasus, in Pretoria for Africa, in Bangkok for Asia-Pacific, in Buenos Aires for Latin America and the Caribbean, and in Beirut for the Arab World.

For more information, please contact:

Valentina Abita, Global Campus Senior Project Manager: valentina.abita@gchumanright.org

Mariana Hadžijusufović, Global Campus South East Europe Programme manager mariana.hadzijusufovic@cis.unsa.ba

Giacomo Ottonello, Global Campus Project Officer: giacomo.ottonello@gchumanrights.org