Human Rights Law Centre

Nottingham student at 27th regular session of the Human Rights Council

Jessica-Allen_image

 Jessica Allen, University of Nottingham Undergraduate in Law with French, was appointed as a European Law Students’ Association (ELSA) Delegate to the 27th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Jessica will act as the UK representative during the second week of the session which is currently underway. As an ELSA Delegate Jessica sits alongside NGO representatives and observes how decisions are taken and human rights policies are created at the highest UN human rights forum.

We spoke with Jessica to hear how she is getting on:

Though I've only been in Geneva for a few days, I've already witnessed a wealth of the work that the United Nations Human Rights Council undertakes. The opportunity to observe informal consultations on draft resolutions, such as one on civil society space, has been particularly enlightening as I have been able to see the way that countries interact procedurally.

I'm also developing an increased awareness of niche contemporary human rights issues after attending side event panel discussions, considering topics such as religious violence in India and the sexualisation of children. I've had the freedom to choose specific topics that interest me, to converse with several established figures in the human rights sphere, and can't wait to finally sit in on one of the Council General Debates.

Posted on Tuesday 16th September 2014

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