On Human Rights

In our latest episode of “On Human Rights” we spoke with Annika Ben David about the importance of democracy during the global pandemic. Annika Ben David is Sweden’s Ambassador at large for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. She is a career diplomat since 25 years and have worked with peace and international security at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs,...

In our latest episode of On Human Rights we spoke with Sam Fraser, the 2020 Martin Alexanderson scholarship recipient. We discussed his research regarding informal Roma settlements in Romania, the circumstances of how they came to be, and the experiences of the people who live within them. Sam is a recently graduated master student with a degree in international development and management, and the...

Link to survey: un75.online/partner/Wallenberg-Institute In our latest episode of “On Human Rights” we spoke with Lisa Laskaridis about UN75, human rights and how one voice can make a difference. Lisa Laskaridis is the Public Information Officer at United Nations and Head of Communications for #UN75. To mark its 75th anniversary in 2020, the United Nations is igniting a people’s debate: UN75. Laun...

In our latest episode of “On Human Rights” we spoke with Michael McEachrane and Morten Kjaerum about racism in Europe and Black Lives Matter. Michael McEachrane is a Visiting Researcher at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute. His current research focus is on postcolonial/decolonial perspectives on human rights, structural racial discrimination and reparatory justice. Michael McEachrane is a regular com...

On this episode of On Human Rights, RWI's Christina Geijer sits down with Ms. Dunja Mijatović, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights. Dunja Mijatović speaks about the current state of human rights in Europe, the threats and opportunities if member states come together.

In this episode of ‘On Human Rights,’ RWI’s Russell Garner sat down with Marissa Jackson Sow, who is a research fellow at the Open Societies Foundation, to talk about the personhood project and dive deeper into contract law and human rights discourse in the United States. Marissa Jackson Sow is an attorney and scholar specializing in human rights, the law of diplomacy, and racial, gender, and envi...

On this episode of On Human Rights, Director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute, Morten Kjaerum, speaks about the changes he has seen in human rights over the past decade. The end of the year is a time to reflect on the past and look towards future opportunities and challenges. We discuss the influence that digital technology, increased youth participation, the Sustainable Development Goals and cli...

In this episode of 'On Human Rights,' Senior Researcher Alejandro Fuentes speaks to OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Ambassador Lamberto Zannier. They discuss the importance of public participation of national minorities, the impacts of the current political environment in Europe and the need for balance and integration of diverse societies.

In our latest episode of “On Human Rights” we spoke with John Knox, the first Independent Expert and Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment appointed by the Human Rights Council. We discussed the relevance of human rights to the environment and the steps necessary to protect human rights in the era of worldwide climate change.

In our latest episode of “On Human Rights," we sat down with Janet Lord to discuss the protection of persons with disabilities, the nexus between humanitarian law and human rights in the context of disability as well as the impact of Article 11. Janet Lord is currently a Senior Fellow at Harvard Law School Project on Disability. She specializes in areas such as human rights treaty negotiation and...

In this next episode of On Human Rights, we speak to Anders Langworth. He is the founder of Bankers For Climate, an initiative that encourages increased focus and action from leaders of the financial industry.

In today’s podcast, we speak to Nike Sandberg, spokesperson for the Afro-Swede Network in Skåne. RWI’s visiting researcher Michael McEachrane sat down with her to talk about her work and the situation for Afro-Swedes in the country.

In our latest episode of “On Human Rights," we sat down with Dr. Charles C. Jalloh. He is the Fulbright Lund Distinguished Chair in Public International Law (2018-2019) at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute and in the Lund University Faculty of Law, Sweden. Dr. Charles C. Jalloh is a professor of law at Florida International University, Miami, USA, and a member of the International Law Commission wher...

The European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, said on Monday that digital businesses should pay their fair share of tax in the EU. The Commissioner touched on a wide range of issues, from democratic control and the threat of power in the digital world to taxation and privacy. Vestager was delivering the 14th annual Anna Lindh lecture in Lund, Sweden. Her speech was titled “Democra...

In our latest episode of “On Human Rights," we sat down with James A. Goldston. He is the executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative and a leading practitioner of international human rights and criminal law. He has litigated cases before the European court of Human Rights and United Nations treaty bodies. For example, he has worked on issues of counterterrorism, racial discriminatio...

François Crépeau, the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants speaks with Matthew Scott, RWI's Team Leader for People on the Move, about migration, its causes, effects and the attitudes surrounding it. “My generation is very afraid because we lived our childhoods in the fifties and early sixties, it was not a mobile world yet and it was not a diverse world. We are afraid of th...

In 2016, a United Nations study found that more than 40 million people around the world were victims of modern slavery – forced labour and forced marriage. What's more, it was recently discovered that unaccompanied minors immigrating to Sweden have been working under slave-like conditions. So, RWI is sitting down with Urmila Bhoola, the UN Special Rapporteur to Contemporary Forms of Slavery, its C...

This episode of ’On Human Rights’ features the full length seminar on the role of business in the violation and protection of human rights. The discussion took place at this year’s Mr-Dagarna (human rights days) in Stockholm, Sweden and was a collaboration between the Raoul Wallenberg Intstitute, Forum Syd, Swedwatch, Diakonia, Amnesty International, Naturskyddsföreningen (Swedish Society for Natu...

On this episode of ‘On Human Rights’ RWI, Stockholm Office Director, Malin Oud, sat down with the Ambassador for Sustainable Business at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Jakob Kiefer at the recent MR-Dagarna (human rights conference) in Stockholm, Sweden. The conversation focuses on the roles and responsibilities of businesses in regards to the protection of human rights. It took place ju...

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But is it really universal? A growing number of states are claiming that human rights are incompatible with their culture. In this episode of On Human Rights, Jamie Bowd sits down with Professor Emeritus in International Law at Stockholm University and the Swedish National Defence College and former board member at...

Despite increased food production and reduction of hunger and malnutrition on a global level, there are four countries in Sub Saharan Africa and the Middle East still suffering from famine. Recently, the trend of reduction of hunger and malnutrition has reversed. Jemimah Watkins sat down with Hilal Elver, EU Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, to discover why. In this podcast, they talk about...

In this episode of “On Human Rights,” we meet Dr Helen Durham AO, the Director of the International Law and Policy at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Dr Durham is an Australian international humanitarian lawyer and took her time to talk to RWI about women in conflicts and explain why there is a need for a gender perspective on the laws of war.

As neo-Nazis ratchet up their rhetoric and activity before the Swedish election in September, our Stockholm office director Malin Oud sat down with John Stauffer, legal director at the NGO Civil Rights Defenders. In this podcast, they talk about hate speech, freedom of expression, the presence of neo-Nazis at the political week of Almedalen in Sweden and many other places around the country.

Why do so many of us find the idea that nature might have rights so compelling or so preposterous? And why do so many serious scholars – of both human rights and environmental policy – avoid the issue altogether? In this episode on “On Human Rights” we will go deeper in to this fascinating and thought provoking discussion through the lens of Walter F. Baber. Baber is the 2017/18 Fulbright Distingu...

These days, it seems what was once up is down, down is up. We sat down for a wide ranging discussion on what needs to be done to improve human rights worldwide with representatives from two leading human rights organizations, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. In this discussion, recorded at Almedalen in Visby on the island of Gotland in Sweden, we spoke to Maja Åberg, who is policy adv...