Seventy years ago, the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Drafted under Chairwoman Eleanor Roosevelt, the UDHR inaugurated the modern international human rights system. This panel discussion explores past accomplishments and future challenges of human rights under the UDHR. The anniversary will also be marked by the unveiling of a bust of Eleanor Roosevelt, gifted to Columbia Law School in recognition of her contribution to human rights.

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Welcome Remarks & Commentary:
Gillian Lester, Dean, Columbia Law School
Suzanne Goldberg, Executive Vice President of University Life, Columbia University
Laura Roosevelt, Artist and Great-Granddaughter of Eleanor Roosevelt
Robert Klitzman, Professor of Psychiatry and Director, Masters of Bioethics Program, Columbia University

Panelists:
Roger Cohen (Moderator)
Columnist, The New York Times

A. Kayum Ahmed
Lecturer in Law, Columbia Law School; Division Director, Open Society Foundations;
Former Chief Executive Officer of the South African Human Rights Commission

Agnes Callamard
UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions; Director, Columbia Global Freedom of Expression Project

Sarah Cleveland
Louis Henkin Professor of Human & Constitutional Rights, Columbia Law School; Former Vice Chair, UN Human Rights Committee

Lynn Freedman
Professor of Population and Family Health and Director, Averting Maternal Death and Disability Project, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

Tracy Robinson
Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, The University of the West Indies; Former President, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

This event is co-sponsored by the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute and Columbia University’s Office of University Life, Master’s of Bioethics Program, and Institute for the Study of Human Rights.

This event is free and open to the public. If you have any questions please reach out to hri@law.columbia.edu.

This event is co-sponsored by the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute and Columbia University’s Office of University Life, Master’s of Bioethics Program, and Institute for the Study of Human Rights. This UDHR anniversary event will also be marked by the unveiling of a bust of Eleanor Roosevelt, made by artist Marie Šeborová and gifted to Columbia Law School by Art for Amnesty Founder Bill Shipsey and the Evelyn Jay Sharp Foundation, in recognition of Roosevelt’s contribution to human rights.