Faith, Human Rights & Co-Existence

The Schaeffer Center for the Study of Genocide, Human Rights and Conflict Prevention at the American University of Paris will be co-hosting a conference on May 2-3, 2024, for Education for Co-existence: creating a university platform from the Faith for Rights community of practices, with a special emphasis on the role of academic hubs and networking to promote research and dialogue on the relation between religion and human rights.

The event is organized by AUP professors Susan Perry and Waddick Doyle, with Tanya Elder in collaboration with AUP students Daniel Carter, Ally Poehailos, Jordan Haschke, and Justin Kaeppi and with support from the Schaeffer Center

This two-day event, organized by the American University of Paris in collaboration with the United Nations (UN) Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, brings together leading university scholars and educators from across the world to cultivate a shared platform working within the OHCHR's Faith for Rights mission.

In a world driven by polarization and violence, academics, practitioners and religious leaders have developed the Faith for Rights framework to explore the positive relationship between religions, beliefs and human rights. Scholars of the interstice between human rights and religion or belief are invited to submit a short abstract of their research to be presented. Civil society actors are invited to submit a brief paragraph on their work in this area to be presented.

As emphasized in the Rabat Plan of Action of 2012, religious leaders have a crucial role to play in speaking out firmly and promptly against human rights violations ranging from hate speech and mass violence. In 2017, the Beirut Declaration on “Faith for Rights” added that individual and communal expression of religions or beliefs flourish in environments where human rights, based on the equal worth of all individuals, are protected. Similarly, human rights may benefit from the deeply rooted ethical and spiritual foundations provided by religions and beliefs. The Beirut Declaration and its 18 commitments reach out to theistic, non-theistic, atheistic or other believers in all regions of the world to enhance cohesive, peaceful and respectful societies on the basis of a common action-oriented platform. 

This event is a continuation of June 2023: Peer-to-Peer Learning Center for Excellence

For any questions feel free to reach out to schaeffercenteraup.edu

Conference Schedule

Thursday May 2, 2024 - 7th floor of Quai

8:45-9:15 - Coffee and pastries       

9:15-9:45 - Introductions Faith 4 Rights – How far we’ve come in 15 years

Opening by Drs. Brian Schiff and Constance Pâris de Bollardière of the Schaeffer Center for the Study of Genocide, Human Rights and Conflict Prevention

Remarks by Dr. Ibrahim Salama and Dr. Michael Wiener, OHCHR

9:45 to 10:45 - Reflections on Faith 4 Rights

1. Nicolas Panotto on Faith for Rights in the South American context
2. Rita Chemaly on Faith 4 Rights at the Université Saint-Joseph, Beirut
3. Margaret Anne Brown Timorese on community building in Vanuatu and Australia

10:45 -12:15 - Design Thinking for launch of the Inter-university F4R Platform (with coffee) 

Lead by AUP Professor Susan Perry

12:15 -12:45 - Lunch break           

13:30-14:30 - Tour (in English) of Notre Dame Cathedral external worksite with the Association CASA            

15:00-17:00 - Ghandi King Global Academy: Instructor-led course on “Religions, Beliefs and Human Rights: A Faith for Rights Approach”. Chair Susan Perry

Friday May 3, 2024 - 7th floor of Quai

9:00 – 10:30 - Religious actors and human rights in different contexts             

1. Maryam ben Salem on religion and human rights in Tunisian context 
2. Jennie Holck-Vlausen on human rights Nordic countries and the Norwegian Human Rights Center
3. Human rights and religion in British universities with Dr. Thiago Alves-Pinto and Rabbi Alex Goldberg
4. Comparative perspectives with Dr. Boumédiène Benyahia and Michel Tao Chan

11:00-12:00 - Workshop on the role of academic hubs             

 Facilitated by Waddick Doyle and Michael Wiener

12:00-13:00 - Guest Speaker AUP Professor Ziad Majed

13:00-14:00 - Lunch

14:00-16:00 - Quarterly exchange of the Faith 4 Rights CommUNity of Practices (hybrid at AUP and online) 

16:00-17:00 - Concluding remarks and Plans for future actions