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
