Protecting Children’s Rights: From Legal Protections to Real Change
Columbia Law School, 435 W. 116 St., New York, NY 10027 Room/Area: JG 807
Join us for a conversation on how law, human rights mechanisms, and advocacy can help protect children from violence, abuse, and injustice. Drawing on experiences from Africa and Asia, the discussion will explore efforts to end corporal punishment, address abuses in juvenile detention, and examine the challenges of turning legal protections into meaningful change for children.
Speaker: Dr. Sonia Vohito, Human Rights Consultant and Former WHO and UNICEF Consultant
Moderator: Maroun Maalouf, SJD, Lecturer in Law and Supervising Staff Attorney, Smith Family Human Rights Clinic, Columbia Law School
When: Thursday, November 5, 2026, 12:30–1:30 PM
Where: Jerome Greene Hall, Room 807, Columbia Law School
Forty Years of the Declaration on the Right to Development: Progress and Challenges
Columbia Law School, 435 W. 116 St., New York, NY 10027 Room/Area: JG 107
Join us for a conversation marking the 40th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Right to Development, adopted by the General Assembly in 1986. The right to development holds that every person and all peoples have the right to participate in, contribute to, and share in a process of development that realizes all human rights and freedoms. Drawing on the work of the UN Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development, this conversation looks back at what's been achieved and what remains unfinished — including the long-pending push for a binding international covenant on the right to development.
Speaker: Juana María Ibáñez Rivas, Chair, UN Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development (EMRTD)
When: Tuesday, November 10, 2026, 12:30–1:30 p.m. Where: JG 107, Columbia Law School
Book Talk: Prosecuting the Powerful by Steve Crawshaw
Columbia Law School, 435 W. 116 St., New York, NY 10027 Room/Area: JG 107
Join the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute for a conversation with Steve Crawshaw, author of the new book, “Prosecuting the Powerful”. At a time of ongoing armed conflicts and growing challenges to accountability for atrocity crimes, Crawshaw will discuss the pursuit of international justice and what it takes to hold powerful actors accountable for the world's gravest crimes. The conversation will explore themes from the book alongside current developments in international criminal justice, including efforts toward a future Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity.
When: Tuesday, November 17 | 12:30-1:30 PM
Where: JG 107, Columbia Law School
Speaker: Steve Crawshaw, British author, journalist, and human rights advocate, and former Human Rights Watch UK Director and UN Advocacy Director
Who Gets Care? Ageing, Health, and the Human Rights Laws
Columbia Law School, 435 W. 116 St., New York, NY 10027 Room/Area: Jerome Greene 107
Join us for a conversation on the rights of older persons and the challenges of ensuring equal access to health care as populations age around the world. Drawing on her work as the former UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, Dr. Claudia Mahler will explore age discrimination in health systems, barriers to accessing care, and the legal protections needed to safeguard the rights and dignity of older people. She will be joined by Dr. John Beard, a leading voice on healthy ageing, who will bring a public health perspective to the conversation. Together they will examine the role of international human rights law, UN mechanisms, and legal advocacy in holding governments accountable.
Speakers:
Dr. Claudia Mahler, former UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons
Dr. John Beard,Irene Diamond Professor of Productive Aging and Director of the International Longevity Center USA at Columbia University Medical Center
When: Thursday, November 19, 2026, 12:30–1:30 PM
Where: Jerome Greene Hall, Room 107, Columbia Law School
