Two Digital Panels on 27 and 28 September 2021 in Preparation of the 2022 Herrenhausen Conference
Organized by Stacey Hynd, Fabian Klose, Johannes Paulmann, and Andrew Thompson in cooperation with the Volkswagen Foundation

North Coast at Lesbos, September 2015, by Rosa-Maria Rinkl via Wikimedia Commons, source.
“Human Rights and Humanitarianism – a Complicated Relationship?” – September 27, 2021, 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. (CET): panel discussion with Michael Barnett (George Washington University), Julia Irwin (University of South Florida, Tampa), and Angelika Nußberger (University of Cologne), chair: Fabian Klose (University of Cologne).

UNSG’s Special Advisor on the prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng speaking to the press in Tshikapa (by MONUSCO/Biliaminou Alao, 2017, source)
“Forced displacement, unlawful internment, and humanitarian neutrality” – September 28, 2021, 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. (CET): keynote by Adama Dieng (former Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, and Honorary Chair of the World Justice Project; chair: Andrew Thompson (Nuffield College, Oxford).
The digital panels are both part of next year’s Herrenhausen Conference “Governing Humanitarianism – Past, Present and Future” (2022), funded by the Volkswagen Foundation. Link to join events https://www.volkswagenstiftung.de/veranstaltungen/livestream.
Digital pre-panel I “Human Rights and Humanitarianism – a Complicated Relationship?” as part of the forthcoming Herrenhausen Conference on “Governing Humanitarianism – Past, Present and Future” (in 2022)
September 27, 2021, 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. (CET)
Link to join event https://www.volkswagenstiftung.de/veranstaltungen/livestream
In the last two decades, humanitarianism and human Rights have crystallized as two flourishing fields of research within various disciplines. Humanitarianism and human rights are often presented as opposing terms, and sometimes even as rival concepts. Despite the efforts to draw a clear line between them, the boundaries between aid, relief, and rights remain both blurred and complicated.Rather than highlighting the differences between humanitarianism and human rights, leading experts from political science, international law, and international history will focus on the manifold overlaps and links. When and how did these concepts compete and reinforce each other? In what ways did the emergence of humanitarian norms influence and contribute to the global emergence of international human rights law? And finally, how does this entwined history influence our landscape of international politics and crisis management today?
Panel: Prof. Dr. Michael Barnett (Professor of International Affairs and Political Science, George Washington University, Washington DC); Prof. Dr. Julia Irwin (Professor of International History, University of South Florida, Tampa); Prof. Dr. Angelika Nußberger (Professor of International Law, University of Cologne, and former Vice President at the European Court of Human Rights in Straßbourg); Chair: Prof. Dr. Fabian Klose (Professor of International History and Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Cologne)
Digital pre-panel II “Forced displacement, unlawful internment, and humanitarian neutrality” as part of the forthcoming Herrenhausen Conference on “Governing Humanitarianism – Past, Present and Future” (in 2022)
September 28, 2021, 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. (CET)
Link to join event https://www.volkswagenstiftung.de/veranstaltungen/livestream
Program
Keynote: “Forced displacement, unlawful internment, and humanitarian neutrality”, by Adama Dieng (former United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide); Chair: Prof. Andrew Thompson (Professor of Global and Imperial History, Nuffield College, University of Oxford)
Adama Dieng, a Senegalese jurist, is the former Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide. He joined the UN in 2001 as Assistant Secretary-General and Registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. During his UN tenure, Mr Dieng served in a range of capacities, including top expert on Haiti and as the Envoy to Malawi. He headed numerous human rights fact-finding missions around the world. Before joining the United Nations, Mr Dieng was Secretary General of the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists (1990-2000); OIF Expert on Legal and Judicial Cooperation; Trainer on Electoral Law; a legal columnist and editor; Chairperson of the Editorial Group to assist the International Panel of Eminent Personalities to investigate the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda and Surrounding Events.
Mr Dieng has served on a long line of boards and councils, including the International IDEA; the Africa Leadership Forum; the International Institute of Human Rights, the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies; the Advisory Council of International Service for Human Rights; the Advisory Council of International Human Rights Law. He is the former President of the Martin Ennals Foundation and Founder of the Panafrican Alliance for Transparency and The Rule of Law, and has served as member of the UNESCO International Advisory Committee on Poverty and Human Rights. In recognition of his contribution to strengthening the rule of law and the fight against impunity, Mr Dieng was appointed Honorary Chair of the Washington and Seattle-based World Justice Project.