NHRI Academy 2024: Human Rights and Securitisation

17-21 June, Bratislava, Slovakia

This year’s NHRI Academy – the event’s eleventh edition – focused on securitisation and human rights. With national security reasons being increasingly used to restrict human rights across the region, the central role that NHRIs play in promoting and protecting them is more critical than ever.

At the Academy, participants from 24 NHRIs learnt more about major securitisation challenges and how they can use their institutions’ mandates to address them. They examined topics including:

• Securitisation and situations of emergency
• National security and anti-terrorism law and policy
• The role of law enforcement, policymakers and other security sector actors
• Limitations to freedom of assembly and restricting civic space
• Securitisation and technology
• Securitisation of migration

By the end of the week, participants were equipped with the skills and knowledge to better tackle these challenges.

NHRI Academy 2023: the rule of law

19-24 June, Skopje, North Macedonia

This year’s NHRI Academy – the event’s tenth edition – focused on the rule of law. With backsliding on the rue of law across Europe, the central role that NHRIs play in upholding is more critical than ever.

At the Academy, participants from 24 NHRIs learnt more about major rule of law challenges and using their institutions’ mandates to address them. Other topics covered were institutional independence – including the Paris Principles – and gender mainstreaming in the work of NHRIs. They looked at how all these issues interrelate with human rights and democracy.

By the end, participants were equipped with a toolkit to tackle these challenges.

NHRI Academy 2022: ‘Artificial intelligence and human rights’

20 June  – 24 June, Tirana, Albania

The 9th edition of the NHRI Academy focused on one of the most important emerging human rights topics: artificial intelligence (AI). NHRI representatives from across Europe gathered in person – for the first time since 2019 – to look at how to go about addressing challenges linked to AI within their mandates.

Over the course of the week, they learnt about how they can:

• assess the impact of AI on human rights;
• use the NHRI mandate to tackle human rights issues related to AI;
• take advantage of opportunities brought by digital technology and AI for more effective promotion and protection of human rights.

Alongside AI-related topics, training was also held on the independence of NHRIs, including mainstreaming the Paris Principles and prioritising gender in the work of NHRIs.