Category: General
The UN High-level political forum and MSPs: Challenges and opportunities for human rights
Key takeaway Multi-stakeholder approaches to development, a new trend that is emerging alongside traditional State-led cooperation, is ever-more dominant across multilateral discussions. This blog post highlights this trend by looking at the main global fora monitoring the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Blog post Every year, governments, civil society, the private sector and…
Multistakeholderism in Global Governance and Human Rights Law: Tracing Discussions at the UN High-Level Political Forum and Beyond
The blog symposium is curated by guest editors Prof. Gamze Erdem Türkelli, Dr. Rossella De Falco and Dr. Isabelle Zundel. Introduction On 27 September 2015, the United Nations (UN) adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,[i] a universal call to advance global progress in the core areas of People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace, and Partnership. Adopted…
The weaponization of poverty and geography in the Brazilian elections
The climate surrounding the Brazilian presidential elections on Sunday, 25th of October 2026, was one of extreme polarisation.[1] With exit polls predicting a small margin and a ‘technical draw’ between far-right candidate and first-round-winner Flavio Bolsonaro and incumbent Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, expectations were high for both sides. The tensions that animated…
The International Order After Gaza: Failures, Emancipatory Possibilities, and Decolonial Futures
Introduction While delivering her presentation (International Responses, Accountability Gaps, and Structural Dynamics shaping the World after Gaza), Dr. Shahd Hammouri began with an anecdote about her visit and interaction with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. Her experience at this moment was quite striking. As she attempts to convey the full picture…
Towards a “Super” Independent Accountability Mechanism in Development Finance?
Webinar Report – 09 September 2026 On 9 September 2026, Prof. Gamze Erdem Türkelli and Ms. Janet Jebichii Sego of the Law and Development Research Group at the Faculty of Law, University of Antwerp, hosted a webinar on Independent Accountability Mechanisms (IAMs) in Development Finance, in the context of multilateral development banks (MDBs) and bilateral…
From Cultural Property to Living Heritage: UNESCO and the Paradoxes of Heritage
I had the pleasure of visiting the Law and Development Research Group at Antwerp in mid-May. Our discussions gave me the opportunity to revisit in greater depth some of the themes I had explored in my doctoral dissertation[1] and I was happy to be given the opportunity to contribute to the blog. In this text,…
On commitment, connection and care: Commemorating Koen De Feyter’s Community Building Legacy
Today is 20 September 2026. It has been two years since Koen’s sudden passing, which left a void that’s still palpable in many of our lives. It has been two years to mourn, to remember, to cherish… It is also time that has forced all of us to look back, reminisce and to acknowledge the…
Ter nagedachtenis aan Koen De Feyter
This text was originally written for the ‘Hoogleraarportretten’ of the University of Antwerp. You can access the initial publication here: https://blog.uantwerpen.be/collectief-geheugen/koen-de-feyter/ Koen De Feyter overleed op 20 september 2024. Onverwachts. In de ochtend, op kantoor in de Venusstraat 23, waar de Faculteit Rechten huist. Op 1 september 2024 was hij aangetreden als decaan van de faculteit.…
The Ongoing Legacy of Coherence
Dear Colleagues, it has been a while. However, the time to write does not always align with life’s broader challenges, nor with the specific administrative burden of financial reporting and accountability in research projects. As always, writing begins with something seemingly simple, yet it becomes increasingly difficult in times when there is no time to…
From the bottom-up: how transitional justice is being reappropriated and used as a mobilising tool in Eastern DRC
What happens when transitional justice (TJ) moves beyond negotiated peace agreements and post-conflict transitions and instead operates in a setting of ongoing, cyclical violence? In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), this is not theoretical but a lived reality. What emerges there challenges some of the field’s assumptions and sheds light on how zooming…