The Fund for Peace Event
May 11, 2012
Washington, D.C.

On Friday, May 11, 2012, the Fund for Peace convened a panel of experts in Washington, DC that explored opportunities to advance human rights reporting by taking advantage of new technologies and developing increased understanding of local culture and context. Below is the full video.

As the global human rights discourse evolves to confront today’s challenges, there continue to be a number of limitations in the capacity of organizations to effectively promote and protect human rights throughout the world. These limitations include weak global compliance, uneven regional efforts, and the inability of human rights organizations to apply punitive measures or provide technical advice to actually address human rights violations, rather than just highlight them. Too often organizations may find themselves investing significant time reporting on human rights at the expense of concrete programs that can turn rhetoric into real, positive change.

In addition, the global human rights discourse continues to be challenged by those that argue that universal reporting fails to take into account local cultures or social values, and treats open countries more harshly than closed nations. As a result, while the global human rights movement has achieved much success in promoting a human rights culture through international treaties, laws, and institutions, progress in the implementation of human rights norms across the world has been much more limited.

This event explored the current challenges of human rights reporting with the aim of developing practical recommendations on how to translate an increased awareness of norms into effective implementation.

The panel discussion included:
- Mark P. Lagon, Adjunct Senior Fellow for Human Rights, Council on Foreign Relations; International Relations and Security Chair, Master of Science in Foreign Service Program, Georgetown University
- David Keyes, Executive Director, Advancing Human Rights
- Jean AbiNader, Senior Adviser, Moroccan American Center

Moderated by Krista Hendry, Executive Director, The Fund for Peace