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[Priya Pillai is a lawyer and international law specialist. She has worked at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) headquarters in Geneva, at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and with various civil society organizations on implementation of international law.] This is an opportune moment to examine the representation of women (in an inclusive sense) in expert bodies or institutions....

[Diego Ruiz Gayol is a Mexican diplomat. Until August 2021 he was a delegate of Mexico to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. He was one of the delegates in charge of drafting the Human Rights Council resolution on “Elimination of discrimination against women and girls”.] All States have agreed that gender equality is one of the pressing global...

[Jarpa Dawuni is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Howard University, Washington D.C. She is a qualified Barrister-at-Law before the Superior Courts of Ghana. She holds a Doctorate in Political Science from Georgia State University.] On October 20, 2020, the Institute for African Women in Law (IAWL) convened a regional high-level consultative meeting of experts, in conjunction with the Gender...

[Claudia Martin is Co-Director of the Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and founding member and member of the Secretariat of GQUAL. Thanks are due to Sara Luzzatto for her editorial assistance for this blog.] One of the pillars of the GQUAL Campaign has been to assert that women’s equal representation in the composition of international courts and organs is anchored on the...

[Marcia V. J. Kran is a Member of the UN Human Rights Committee (2017 - 2024) from Canada, and a former director at the UN Human Rights Office in Geneva and the UN Development Programme Regional Centres in Bangkok and Bratislava. She has worked on development and human rights in over 40 countries. Thanks are due to Ms. Bhavya Mahajan...

[Elizabeth Odio Benito is President of the Inter-American Court, a former judge on the International Criminal Court and on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.] As I look back on my journey as an international judge, I recall a specific moment when I was asked to chair a so-called ‘Court of Conscience’ in the midst of the World Conference on Human...

[Elizabeth Salmón is Executive Director of the Institute of Democracy and Human Rights and Senior Lecturer in International Law at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. She is also a member of the Advisory Committee of the UN Human Rights Council.] In its 47th Session (21 June-9 July 2021), the Human Rights Council (HRC) officially received the report on Current levels...

[Maria Noel Leoni is member of the GQUAL Secretariat, Senior Adviser at the Center for Justice and International Law and Regional Manager for Latin America at the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. Alejandra Vicente is member of the GQUAL Secretariat and Head of Law at REDRESS. Agatha Ciancaglini is Advocacy and Research Assistant at GQUAL and Lawyer at the...

[Ahmed Abofoul is an Independent Legal Researcher at Al-Haq’s Legal Research and Advocacy Department.] Introduction Since its creation, the International Criminal Court (ICC or the Court) has often been understandably described as a “giant without arms or legs”. As the Court does not have enforcement powers of its own, it has been entirely dependent on the cooperation of States to fulfil its...

[Jennifer Trahan is Clinical Professor at NYU's Center for Global Affairs and Director of their Concentration in International Law & Human Rights.] On September 27, 2021, the new International Criminal Court (“ICC”) Prosecutor, Karim Khan, announced that the Office of the Prosecutor was seeking authorization to resume investigation in the ICC’s Afghanistan situation.  He also announced that his office would focus the Afghanistan...

[Dr. Srinivas Burra is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Legal Studies, South Asian University, New Delhi.] This is in response to Benoit Mayer's writeup titled 'Why I Can't Sign the World Lawyers' Pledge on Climate Action', which was a reaction to 'World Lawyers' Pledge on Climate Action: An Urgent Call for Climate Mainstreaming'. I am not an expert on climate...

[Laetitia van den Assum is a diplomatic expert who has served as Netherlands ambassador on four continents. She was also a member of the Rakhine Advisory Commission, chaired by the late Kofi Annan.] Dedicated to the memory of Rohingya leader and activist Mohib Ullah who was brutally assassinated in Bangladesh on 29 September 2021. Background Four years ago, 750,000 Rohingya from Myanmar fled to...