Professor Dr. Bailliet is the Director of the Masters Program in International Law at the University of Oslo, Norway. Bailliet has published extensively on transnational and cross-disciplinary issues within international law including general public international law, human rights, refugee law, constitutional law, counter-terrorism, gender/women’s rights, solidarity, and peace. She currently teaches the only law class in the world titled “The International Law of Peace”.

Abstract: The current initiative to promote recognition of the right to international solidarity reflects its recent characterization as a key vehicle of 21st Century multilateralism based on networking between states, IOs, corporations, and civil society. Recent examples of transnational civil society grass roots solidarity movements include the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement for the women in Iran, the engagement to help flood victims in Pakistan, and the letters issued by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU on behalf of vulnerable communities around the world. However, it is suggested that the civic space is shrinking, and solidarity actors are increasingly under threat, underscoring the salience of a human rights approach in the form of a new declaration on the right to international solidarity.

Past normative initiatives at the UN Human Rights Council have been marked by polarization and division. There is a need for reflection on the scope of the right/duty, as well as identification of the beneficiary and duty-bearer. This presentation invites discussion of solidarity’s added value and invites creative suggestions on possible reviewing mechanisms, as well the bridge-building possibility in fostering consensus for the adoption of a new normative instrument.