The UCD Human Rights Network has been growing within the university since its foundation in 2012. Roisin Murray looks at the growth of the Centre over the last few years.
In our current climate where newspaper column inches are consistently dominated by conflict, displaced people and inequality, the significance of human rights has reached new heights. Suzanne Egan, lecturer in European and International human rights law at UCD, affirms the increasing importance of human rights in the present day. She believes this importance stems from the current difficulty in the world “to find a value system”. Instead, “human rights have almost become the new secular religion”, she says.
It is in such a context that the UCD Human Rights Network was established in 2012, born out of and supported by UCD School of Law. The network was originally set up as a focal point for academics across a variety of disciplines to establish co-ordinated inter-disciplinary research within a human rights context. In 2015, the network was officially upgraded to the status of an academic centre by UCD, tasked with the twin goals of promoting research and continuing professional development in the field of human rights.
Now operating with a small budget allocated from the UCD Law School, securing research funding for the Centre is a huge priority. The Centre consists of academic staff and researchers across a variety of disciplines throughout UCD, with its members ranging from the UCD School of Law, School of Politics and International Relations and School of History and Archives. The fundamental aims of the Centre are simple: to host events, to raise awareness and to extend public research on topics in the field of human rights.
Human rights have almost become the new secular religion.
For Egan, director of the UCD Centre for Human Rights and former Visiting Fellow at Harvard Law School’s Human Rights Program, the inter-disciplinary approach underlying the centre is of great importance. She maintains that no longer is it possible to receive “an answer to a human rights question through one discipline” and instead academics must now collaborate in order to establish solutions. The types of research areas are broad ranging: equality, conflict and asylum are all major aspects of focus within the Centre.
The Centre originated from a university background, and so the involvement of students is an integral component of its success. Many PhD students from varying academic fields researching human rights issues represent associate members of the Centre. The events facilitated by the Centre are open to the general public, and attendance by undergraduate students in particular is always encouraged. The participation of students is particularly important as Egan asserts that individuals can sometimes risk “becoming atomised in universities and just look at their own subject matters”. However, a more extensive knowledge of human rights provides “a lens to see so much more in the world”.
The UCD Centre for Human Rights is not limited to the academic sphere. One of its central priorities is to foster relations with national and international organisations, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and government departments. Notable NGOs that have worked in partnership with the Network on Human Rights include the Free Legal Advice Centre (FLAC) and Public Interest Law Alliance (PILA). In 2015 the network collaborated with PILA in hosting a seminar on transgender rights. Participation in the event included a judge from the constitutional court in Germany, who presented on the progressive legislation concerning transgender people implemented in Germany. Other notable events hosted by the network have included the seminar ‘Direct Provision: A Challenge to Law, A Challenge to Rights’ organised by Liam Thornton. Additionally, a roundtable event on ‘Strengthening the UN Human Rights Treaty System’ was conducted in 2013 with participation from representatives from NGOs and academia.
The focus on wider education in human rights was complimented by the successful launch of the Human Rights Summer School in June 2013 at UCD. Advertised to the general public, the summer school was attended by students, practitioners and NGO activists. The three day long event consisted of two-hour classes centred upon a particular aspect of human rights. The topics addressed ranged from women in conflict, business and human rights, and how to use the human rights system. Speakers included Egan herself, Liam Thornton, Graham Finlay and many more lecturers from UCD.
Despite the summer school being well-received, a feedback form completed by the attendees revealed a glaring gap in the field of human rights education. The respondents demonstrated astonishment at the lack of a co-ordinated book on human rights, despite the wide range of inter-disciplinary research that had been conducted. This absence was rectified by the comprehensive International Human Rights: Perspectives from Ireland, edited by Egan and consisting of contributions in specialists from areas such as disability and trafficking of women. The book is credited as a vital resource for NGOs and practitioners.
Dedicated centres for human rights are not an anomaly, particularly in academic environments such as universities, which facilitate their growth. Universities such as the University of Glasgow and the University of Essex have also implemented similar programmes. Although no official links have been fostered between the UCD Centre and other centres, Egan admitted to an element of “looking to other well-established places for ideas on how to grow the UCD Centre itself.” Looking to the model of the Harvard Human Rights Program provided Egan with some possible ideas that could potentially be effectively implemented in a UCD context. One particular concept revolves around research fellows visiting UCD, and being supplemented by the academic support and facilities of UCD.
The UCD Centre for Human Rights already has plans in place for 2016 and continues to aim to expand. Aspirations include conducting another summer school in June. Another priority for the year also includes securing further research funding in order to allow this largely self-sufficient network of academics to continue to flourish.
Advertisements