Professor Tawhida Ahmed and Dr Lilija Alijeva host the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues at the DiverCity Workshop 2024.
By Mr Shamim Quadir (Senior Communications Officer), Published
On Wednesday 12 June 2024, Professor Tawhida Ahmed and Presidential Fellow, Dr Lilija Alijeva, hosted the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Nicolas Levrat, at The City Law School during the DiverCity Workshop 2024.
The workshop brought together over 30 participants representing civil society, academia, independent experts, and students working on human rights of ethnic, religious, linguistic, national and other minority groups. The workshop sessions focused on assessing the obstacles to the current participation opportunities at the United Nations (UN) and informing ideas for reform.
The in-person and online presence of stakeholders from European and non-European countries added to the valuable and diverse perspectives informing pathways forward for better accessibility and use of the UN human rights mechanisms for minorities.
Minority rights are human rights
On Wednesday 21 September 2022, UN Secretary General António Guterres said:
The hosting academics argue that this quote from the UN Secretary General, delivered at a meeting commemorating the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, highlights the problematic situation in which minority communities across the globe find themselves today.
The lack of progress in interpretation and implementation of minority rights protection norms continuing to lead to neglect of minority voices and experiences, and obstruction of justice for ethnic, religious, linguistic, national and other minority groups.
They argue that the current international legal system, and the norms it generates, continue to be dominated by states, leaving very little space for access and participation for affected minority groups.
Professor Ahmed and Dr Alijeva are conducting an ongoing project that aims to challenge this status quo by:
- assessing the current international dialogue avenues
- engaging with key stakeholders in minority rights protection.
One of those key stakeholders is Nicolas Levrat, the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, who has a mandate that is specifically dedicated to increasing the visibility and raising awareness of minority issues among UN institutions and states, regional and other international organisations, and the general public.
The mandate also enhances the work of other UN bodies and mechanisms that address minority rights and minority issues, including the UN Forum on Minority Issues. However, in his 2024 interview for the SwissInfo, Levrat described the post of the Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues as a very difficult one as the mandate holder has to carefully select a strategy:
Despite these challenges, protecting and respecting minority rights is crucial to global peace and security today. Professor Ahmed and Dr Alijeva argue that it is time for more effective action that specifically opens existing participation opportunities to diverse minority voices and moves away from the current Eurocentric gaze.
As Professor Ahmed explains:
The project on minority rights at the City Law School aims to create tools for third sector organisations to engage the UN mechanisms effectively. It is being developed in collaboration with the workshop participants and members of the Steering Group of the Minority Rights Solidarity Network, with Professor Ahmed as Steering Group Chair and Dr Alijeva as Member of the Steering Group.
The network is a carefully curated group of around 60 members actively engaged in minority rights collaborative work and currently spans Europe, Asia and Africa, and aims to grow to cover all the corners of the globe where minority rights are in jeopardy.
Professor Ahmed and Dr Alijeva argue that access to UN mechanisms is currently particularly weak for non-European minority stakeholders, and that this needs to be addressed urgently, with it being critical that voices from outside Europe are amplified in UN human rights contexts.
The key preliminary findings and reflections from the workshop were presented at the second University of London Knowledge Diplomacy Conference at Senate House (Malet Street, London, UK) on Wednesday 3 July 2024. The conference connects practitioners and academics across different disciplines on pressing global issues informing research into practice and practice into research.
The project was sponsored by the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) and Research England.
About the academics
Prof Tawhida Ahmed is Professor of Law at The City Law School and an established scholar in minority rights who has gained important impact and connections within the global governance of minority rights community. She has advised the UN and the Council of Europe on minority rights protection. She is currently Chair of the Steering Group of the Minority Rights Solidarity Network, taking a lead in shaping the direction of the work of the Network, the central aim of which is knowledge exchange, inclusion of minority voices and collaborative research.
Dr Lilija Alijeva is Presidential Fellow at The City Law School. Her research focuses on international organisations, implementation of international minority rights norms, and accessibility of international dialogue platforms and processes for civil society actors who represent minority communities. Dr Alijeva is part of the recent University of London Knowledge Diplomacy initiative that connects the work of diplomacy practitioners and academics. She is also part of the Steering Group of the Minority Rights Solidarity Network.
Professor Ahmed and Dr Alijeva were supported by Engin Firat, PhD Student at The City Law School, who contributed to the successful implementation of this stage of the project.
Najma Farah, LLB Student at The City Law School who recently completed her studies, assisted the project with workshop outputs.