Multistakeholderism in Global Governance and Human Rights Law: Tracing Discussions at the UN High-Level Political Forum and Beyond

Welcome to the blog symposium titled “Multistakeholderism in Global Governance and Human Rights Law: Tracing Discussions at the UN High-Level Political Forum and Beyond”. This symposium expands the conversation around multistakeholder approaches to development in multilateral fora, such as the UN High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), held annually in New York, and the associated Regional Forums on Sustainable Development (RFSD), which take place across UN Regional Hubs. As a rolling blog symposium, it seeks to trace evolving conversations and ongoing debates around multistakeholderism and multilateralism within the UN 2030 Agenda, bringing together multidisciplinary perspectives from international human rights law, political science, economics and sociology to explore their implications for human rights accountability. The symposium also looks beyond these fora to other relevant global multilateral events, regional perspectives and sector-specific developments, with a view to advancing scholarly debate and fostering exchange between academics, civil society, policymakers and practitioners.

Disclaimer

The research on which this blog symposium is based is funded by the European Union through the ERC Starting Grant (Project Number: 101117107), led by Professor Gamze Erdem Türkelli at the University of Antwerp. In particular, it is linked to the first research stream of this project (www.genesis-erc.eu). The blog symposium is curated by guest editors Prof. Gamze Erdem Türkelli, Dr Rossella De Falco and Dr Isabelle Zundel. The views and opinions expressed in the blog contributions, however, are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Council Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

©2024 ERC-2023-STG GENESIS 

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme (Project Number: 101117107).

Guest Editors

Gamze Erdem Türkelli is an Associate Research Professor at the Law & Development Research Group. Her work is situated in the interface of international law, human rights law and sustainable development. She conducts research into transnational human rights obligations, hybrid public-private actors in international law such as multistakeholder partnerships, ‘innovative’ development financing, business & human rights, children’s rights as well as accountability and responsibility. She is the Principal Investigator of the ERC Starting Grant 2023 funded GENESIS Project (www.genesis-erc.eu).

Rossella De Falco is a postdoctoral researcher at the Law & Development Research Group, working at the intersection of international law and global governance. She holds a PhD cum Laude in Human Rights, Society and Multi-level Governance from the University of Padova, an LLM from the University of Essex and a double degree MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University and from the University of Bologna. She has extensive experience in health and human rights across Africa, Europe and Latin America, including as Program Officer on the Right to Health at the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Head of Right to Health Campaign at Just Fair UK. Amongst others, she collaborated with the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the Center for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Her research interests encompass global health law and policy, health and human rights, comparative welfare studies, and research methodologies.

Isabelle Zundel is a researcher in international human rights law, with research interests spanning regional human rights systems, international environmental law, and socio-legal studies. Currently, she is a postdoctoral researcher at the Law and Development Research Group at the University of Antwerp, where she works on the ERC Starting Grant 2023-funded GENESIS Project, led by Gamze Erdem Türkelli, which examines multistakeholder partnerships (MSPs) as actors in achieving sustainable development and their interrelationship with human rights. In addition, she supports the coordination of a five-year VLIR-UOS-funded research project in partnership with Mzumbe University.

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