Credits: Jean Ruiter, The Paradox of Chaos and Order, Wool Threads #3
By Antenor Hallo de Wolf; Melanie Schneider; Beatriz Gomes Batista; and Aila Naysmith
On the 29th and 30th of June 2023, members of the participating universities of the Netherlands Network for Human Rights Research (NNHRR) gathered at the University of Groningen for its annual research day (Toogdag). The general goal of the Toogdag 2023 was to stand still and take stock of the developments in the field of human rights in the light of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The Toogdag 2023 focused on past developments related to the Declaration. It also looked at the current and future impact of the UDHR, and discussed how the Declaration is reflected on the work of the various working groups of the NNHRR and its individual researchers. The Toogdag 2023 also considered whether new rights have to be developed to supplement the UDHR, as well as what are the adequate responses to future challenges facing the field of human rights in the coming years.
This blog contribution serves to introduce a short special blog series on the Toogdag 2023, starting with a general report of the proceedings of Toogdag 2023, which is presented in three parts: Part 1; Part 2; and Part 3. Other individual contributions to the Toogdag 2023 will appear in the coming weeks. We hope that the report and the individual contributions will reflect the interesting discussions held during the Toogdag and provide food for thought to reflect on the 75th Anniversary of the UDHR.
Bios
Antenor Hallo de Wolf (PhD) is an assistant professor in international law and international human rights law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Groningen. His main research interests include human rights and the privatization of public functions/services, the provision of essential public services and human rights, investment, regulation of non-state actors and human rights, the prevention of torture, the law of the sea, and the prohibition on the use of force. In his free time he likes to bang the drums!
Melanie Schneider is a recent graduate from the University of Amsterdam with an LL.M. in International and European Law. Prior to the LL.M., Melanie graduated from Tilburg University with a BA in Liberal Arts and Sciences, with a major in law in an international context, and a minor in law, completed at Sciences Po. Melanie was also selected to partake in the honours programme of Tilburg University. Currently, Melanie is a research intern at the Asser Institute for International and European Law. Previously, she worked as a legal advisor at the Amsterdam International Law Clinic, on a confidential international human rights law and international criminal law case on the issue of freedom of religion and belief. She also interned at the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, where she extensively worked on human rights advocacy via the United Nation’s Universal Periodic Review and treaty body system. Melanie’s interests include international human rights law, counter-terrorism, international criminal law, transitional justice and energy.
Beatriz Gomes Batista was born in Rio de Janeiro in July 3rd 2003. She spent her childhood and adolescence in Viçosa, a small town in the interior of Brazil. At seventeen, she moved to Costa Rica, where she studied for two years at United World College Costa Rica due to a scholarship she won from UWC's Brazilian national committee. She is currently a second-year student of International and European Law and of the Honors College Program at the University of Groningen.
Aila Naysmith is 3rd year International and European Law LLB student, University of Groningen, with a keen interest in Human Rights and International Environmental Law.