Manfred Nowak, international human rights expert and director of the Vienna Master of Arts in Human Rights, opened the event with a keynote speech. Subsequently, co-editor Lisa Heschl outlined the topics of the thirteenth edition of the Yearbook: The new edition takes the opportunity to reflect on the impact that COVID-19 has had on human rights and to assess the proportionality and necessity of state responses to the pandemic in order to ensure a resilient human rights system in the future.
After the presentation of the book Gerd Oberleitner, UNESCO Chair in Human Rights and Human Security, moderated the panel discussion on various human rights topics connected with the book. The UNI-ETC had the privilege to welcome, Dunja Mijatović, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, and Karin Lukas, President of the Council of Europe Committee on Social Rights. They exchanged experiences and views of the state of human rights in Europe, the importance to address inequalities and to strengthen social and economic rights.
They talked about several relevant issues regarding the pandemic like the access to vaccination, the right to education and children’s human rights, domestic violence and women’s human rights, the situation of migrants and refugees, the right to freedom of expression and disinformation, mental health etc. The whole event was recorded and can be seen here.
The volume is available here. Get 20% off the print or the e-book with the code AUTH21EYHR (valid until 31 January 22).
The Uni-ETC cordially congratulates on the new book and thanks everyone who helped to publish the book and took part at the event.
More information on the Yearbook:
The European Yearbook on Human Rights is edited by Philip Czech, Lisa Heschl, Karin Lukas, Manfred Nowak and Gerd Oberleitner. It brings together renowned scholars, emerging voices and practitioners, comprising contributions which engage with some of the most important human rights issues and developments in Europe. The Yearbook helps to better understand the rich landscape of the European regional human rights system and is intended to stimulate discussions, critical thinking and further research in this field.