The Strasbourg Conference on International Law & Human Rights

"The Role of International Law to Promote Sustainable Development, Youth Empowerment & Women's Rights"

(Strasbourg, France; April 14th - 16th, 2014)

Program Timetable

MONDAY APRIL 14th, 2014
14:00 - 14:45 Opening Session
14:00 - 14:05
Welcome Address
Mr. Mark C. Donfried
(Director General & Founder, Institute for Cultural Diplomacy
14:05 - 14:15 Opening Address
MP Ögmundur Jónasson
(Member of the Council of Europe; Member of the Parliament of Iceland; Former Minister of the Interior and Justice of Iceland)
14:15 - 14:35 “Women and Children in the Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights”
Judge Ineta Ziemele
(Judge, Section President, European Court of Human Rights)
14:35 - 14:55 “Will XXI Century be More Human? Universality of Human Rights”
The Hon. Ján Figel
(Vice President, National Council of the Slovak Republic; Former European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth)

Perspectives from the Council of Europe and Beyond

14:55 - 15:15 “Working towards de facto gender equality: Council of Europe Gender Equality Strategy 2014-2017”
Ms. Liri Kopachi
(Head of Equality Division, Council of Europe)
15:15 - 15:35
“The Rise and Fall of Gender Equality: From Empowerment to Precarity”
Ms. Sandra Vermuyten

( Equality and Rights Officer of Public Services International - PSI)
15:35 - 15:55
“Protecting Human Rights, Why Legislation Isn’t Enough”
MP Fiona Mactaggart
(Member of the British Parliament)
15:55 - 16:05 Observations, Questions and Answers
16:05 - 16:30 Break

Perspectives from the Council of Europe and Beyond

16:30 - 16:50 “Children's rights are human rights: the integrated action of the Council of Europe”
Ms. Regína Jensdóttir
(Head of the Children´s Rights Division of the Council of Europe)
16:50 - 17:10 “Problems of cultural dialogue and human rights in the former communist-ruled countries. Way to mutual understanding”
MP Egidijus Vareikis

(Member of the Parliament of Lithuania)
17:10 - 17:30 “Sustainable Lifelong Learning and the Sense of Justice”
Prof. Dr. Romuald Normand
(Professor of Sociology, University of Strasbourg)
17:30 - 18:00
Observations, Questions and Answers
18:00 Closing of Day 1
TUESDAY APRIL 15th, 2014

Perspectives from the Council of Europe and Beyond

9:15 - 9:35 “On the Move: Human Rights and Migrants in Today´s Europe”
Ms. Lilja Gretarsdottir
(Senior Adviser on Migration, Council of Europe)
9:35 - 9:55 The Limits of the Morality of Rationality: Uncovering Competing Conceptions in Defining and Protecting Minority Rights”
Prof. Scott Johns
(Lecturer, Immigration Rights and Individual Rights, University of Denver)
9:55 - 10: 15 “Gendermainstreaming in Gender Policy”
MEP Angelika Werthmann
(Member of the European Parliament)
10:15 - 10:35
Sustainable Environment and International Law
Sir Graham Watson
(Member of European Parliament for the South West of England and Gibraltar; President, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe)
10:35 - 11:00 Observations, Questions and Answers
11:00 - 11:30 Break
11:30 - 11:50 “International Law, Human Rights and the Rights of Women”
Mr. Grégory Thuan
(Laywer, Cabinet Hincker & Associés)
11:50 - 12:10 “Climate Change as a Human Rights Issue”
MP Tynkkynen Oras
(Member of the Parliament of Finland)
12:10 - 12:30 “Gender Equality in the EU - A Question of Fairness and Economic Growth”
MP Anna Wallén
(Member of the Parliament of Sweden)
12:30 - 13:00 Observations, Questions and Answers
13:00 - 14:15 Lunch Break

Perspectives from the Council of Europe and Beyond

14:15 - 14:35 „The Role of the Council of Europe in Empowering Young People‎"
Tina Mulcahy
(Acting Head of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe)
14:35 - 14:55 MEP Marietje Schaake
Member of the European Parliament)
14: 55 - 15:15 “Human rights and devolution: the British experience”
MP Wayne David
(Member of the British Parliament)
15:15 - 15:35 “Tackling Violence against Women at Home and Abroad”
MP Elfyn Llwyd
(Member of the British Parliament)
15:35 - 15:45 Observations, Questions and Answers
15:45 - 16:35 Break
16:35 - 17:15 “Citizenship, Empowerment and Grass-roots Democracy in Disadvantaged Neighbourhoods within Europe”
Prof. Dr. Maurice Blanc
(Professor of Sociology, University of Strasbourg)
17:15 - 17:35 “Changing Interdependent Minority Policy in Europe and the rule of the Modern States”
MP Efgani Dönmez
(Member of the Parliament of Austria)
17:35 -17:55 Human Rights in Russia - the EU Must Take a Stand”
MEP Kristiina Ojuland
(Member of the European Parliament)
17:55 - 18:15 “The Institution of Diplomatic Asylum as the Possibility of Protecting Human Rights”
Dr. Alina Malinowska
(Researcher, Department of Human Rights, Marie Curie-Sklodowska University- Lublin, Poland)
18:15 - 18:30 Observations, Questions and Answers
18:30 Closing of Day 2
WEDNESDAY APRIL 16th, 2014

Perspectives from the Council of Europe and Beyond

9:15 - 9:35 “Council of Europe Action against Trafficking in Human Beings”
Ms. Petya Nestorova
(Executive Secretary of GRETA)
9:35 - 9: 55 The Status of Non-State Actors under the International Rule of Law: A Search for Global Justice”
Dr. Mohammad H. Zarei
(Assistant Professor of Public Law at Shahid Beheshti University, Faculty of Law, Tehran)
9:55 - 10:15 “The protection of women's rights - which role can and should female Parliamentarians play?”
MEP Silvana Koch-Mehrin
(Member of the European Parliament)
10: 15 - 10.35 “International Law: The solution to break a civilizational impasse?”
MEP
Younous Omarjee
(Member of the European Parliament)
10: 35 - 10:50 Observations, Questions and Answers
10: 50 - 11:15 Break
11:15 - 11: 35 “International Human Rights Protection - A Hope for the Weak”
Judge Dragoljub Popovic
(Judge, European Court of Human Rights)
11: 35 - 11:55 “The Binding Nature of the Judgments of the ECHR and the Universality of Human Rights”
Judge Boštjan Zupančič
(Judge, the European Court of Human Rights)
11:55 - 12:15 “Strasbourg Court in Promoting Sustainable Development”
Judge Dmitry Dedov
(Judge, European Court of Human Rights)
12: 15 - 12:35 Mr. Manuel Lezertua
(Director of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe)
12:35 - 13:00 Observations, Questions and Answers
13:00 - 13:20 Conclusions of the Conference
MP Ögmundur Jónasson
13:20 - 13:30 Closing of the Conference
Mr. Mark C. Donfried