GC Human Rights Preparedness Initiative addressing persistent challenges of pandemics

Deadline: 31-Jul-21

The Global Campus of Human Rights is proud to present its new open initiative GC Human Rights Preparedness, a space for collaboration on the role that human rights must play in addressing the persistent challenges of pandemics and other emergencies.

The title, Human Rights Preparedness, is a dual invitation: it invites contributors

• explain the ways in which protecting, respecting and fulfilling human rights, as they understand them today, is vital in meeting the challenges of pandemics and other emergencies, or
• to imagine how human rights could be better prepared for such challenges.

By identifying good practices in a variety of areas related to human rights and democratisation, GC Human Rights Preparedness will shape significant knowledge with relevance to the post COVID-19 world.

The initiative is curated by an editorial team supported by a multiregional and multidisciplinary group of reviewers and advisors whose knowledge and expertise are best suited to discuss complex issues.

All submissions to GC Human Rights Preparedness should have a clear human rights orientation, aiming overall to contribute towards the development of a rights-based approach to pandemics and other emergencies. Submissions should be focused and of high quality: the contribution towards a rights-based approach should be easy to identify and likely to be of enduring value.

The aim is to create a point of reference on the topic. Submissions should also foreground accessibility. The opening sentences of the submission are crucial: use simple, direct and lively language to give a concise statement of your main idea, including how it relates to a rights-based approach to pandemics and other emergencies. By doing this, you help to ensure that readers look at your full submission.

A variety of styles are welcome: analysis, stories, reflections, testimonies, best practices, recent developments, bold thinking, etc. Submissions can be in written/photo/video/audio form.

Topics

• They welcome submissions across the human rights-pandemics-emergencies spectrum, including topics related to: cross-cutting themes (eg, gender, equity, disability, poverty, sustainable development, democracy, governance, rule of law, non-discrimination) groups most at risk (eg, children, women, workers, migrants) specific rights and freedoms, duties and responsibilities (eg, health, education, food, housing, movement, life).
• Submissions are invited in English. To enhance accessibility, they would be pleased to receive a second version of the submission in a different language: the English-language version will be used for review and editing, but  shall upload both versions to the website.

Eligibility Criteria

• They  invite all members and friends of the Global Campus network—faculty, researchers, practitioners and experts, institutional partners, alumni and students—to contribute to this important new initiative.

Template for Contributors

They ask that you use their template to submit your contribution.

• Title: no more than 100 characters. Aim for something that captures the essence of your contribution in a simple but interesting way. As a general rule, readers prefer titles that are jargon-free, attention-grabbing and concise; these titles are also much easier to share on social media. Avoid italics as they interfere with online sharing
• Tags: 4-5 relevant keywords at the top of your contribution.
• Region: specify the GC region relevant to your contribution. If the contribution is relevant to more than one region, or you are offering a global perspective, please state this.
• Discipline: specify the discipline or disciplines that inform your contribution (eg History; Law; Political Science).
• Excerpt: include an excerpt of max 40 words as a summary of the content or aim of the post.
• Type: if you submit an audio or a video file (eg, an interview, a self-recording) please use a Word document with the title, a short summary and the link to the audio or video file.
• Submit any image as a stand-alone file and indicate the caption and full copyright attribution. Hyperlinks and images can be included in any text or image-based submission.
• Length: text: max 700-1200 words | audio: max 5 minutes | video: max 3 minutes | slide shares: max 20 slides | photo essay: max 5 photos, each accompanied by text (max 1200 words) | announcements: max 200 words.
• References: referencing must be via in-text citations. Embed hyperlinks to your sources; try to link to no more than 3 words in your text, and for any particular source, include the hyperlink only once in the text. Do not use footnotes. A reference list can be added as a separate file for video/audio submissions
• Originality: please indicate if your submission has been published or submitted for consideration elsewhere and if you have permission to republish. Where a submission has been prepared specifically for GC Human Rights Preparedness, once it has been published, you are welcome to submit it elsewhere, noting where it first appeared
• Language: UK English (eg, ise not ize), but they would be pleased to receive your submission in a second language too. Please avoid using Latin terms unless absolutely necessary. Avoid symbols too: our readers come from different disciplines, so if you are referring to a particular legal provision, use paragraph, section, etc.
• Your name, title, affiliation and research interests: max 50 words.
• Photo(s): please include a colour photograph of yourself. If your submission is a blogpost, you may also include a licence-free, high-resolution photograph that is directly relevant to the content of your submission. Please make sure the photo is of high quality (1920x1080px).

For more information, visit https://gchumanrights.org/preparedness/contribute.html