Human Rights at Home Blog

July – September 2023 Deadlines: Calls for Input by Human Rights Mechanisms

The following calls for inputs have been issued by UN Human Rights Mechanisms with deadlines in July – September 2023 and law professors whose practice, research, and/or scholarship touches on these topics may be interested in submission:

Committee on Enforced Disappearances and Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances - Call for inputs with a view to issuing a joint statement on the notion of short-term enforced disappearance. Deadline July 31, 2023. Read more.

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – Call for inputs to inform the Office’s next thematic report on "good practices on support systems to ensure community inclusion of persons with disabilities, including as a means of building forward better after the COVID-19 pandemic" to be presented at the 55th session of the Human Rights Council. Deadline August 1, 2023. Read more.

Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – Call for inputs on the first draft of the General Recommendation N° 37 on racial discrimination in the enjoyment of the right to health. Deadline August 4, 2023. Read more.

Human Rights Committee – (U.S. review will be held October 18, 2023.) Call for written contributions for adoption of list of issues for U.S. review. Deadline August 4, 2023. Read more.

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights - Call for inputs to create a Romani Memory Map for the Americas, a crowd-sourced initiative done jointly with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO); Laboratorio de Estudos sobre Etnicidade (LEER /Universidade de São Paulo), Brazil; Gonzaga University, USA; and the Institute of Ethnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, as well as with Roma human rights defenders and Roma civil society organisations throughout the Americas and beyond. Deadline August 31, 2023. Read more.

Human Rights Committee – (U.S. review will be held October 18, 2023.) Call for shadow reports for U.S. review. Deadline September 12, 2023. Read more.

Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association: Call for inputs to aid in development of practical tools to assist law enforcement bodies in promoting and protecting human rights in the context of peaceful protests, to be presented at the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council. Deadline September 30, 2023. Read more.

2023 University of Arkansas Law Review symposium on “Children at Work.”

The University of Arkansas Law Review invites authors to submit proposals for papers for its 2023 symposium on “Children at Work.”

In recent months, the U.S. Department of Labor has reported a substantial increase in serious child labor law violations. A New York Times expose uncovered migrant children working in U.S. workplaces, including those that produce Fritos and Fruit of the Loom products. Yet, during this same period, numerous states have introduced or enacted laws to weaken longstanding child labor protections. Meanwhile, laws strengthening child labor laws or enhancing penalties for violations have been proposed in Congress and enacted in Arkansas.

This symposium will explore topics related to child labor in and beyond the United States and may include:

• What is known about trends in where children are working, how much they work, and why they work? 
• At what age is it appropriate for children to work? What limitations should there be and who should set them?
• What are the causes of increased child labor violations? What is the history of child labor and child labor law? How does it compare to other countries?
• What is the role of the state in protecting children? What are unique challenges in enforcing child labor laws and securing the rights of children? Do current laws and enforcement strategies fall short? If so, how might they be improved?
• To the extent that children are employees, what are the implications for unions and organizing strategies? How do and should children participate in unions and organizing? Does the National Labor Relations Act adequately address the prospect of minor union members?
• What is the relationship between immigration policy and child labor? What issues face immigrant children at work? What about the relationship between human trafficking and child labor? How should concerns about child labor trafficking shape federal and state policy?
• What unique risks do children face in the workplace? What are the benefits of appropriate work by children? What is the relationship between work and educational and other outcomes?

The University of Arkansas Law Review invites authors exploring these and related issues to submit proposals for papers. Selected authors will be invited to present their research at the Law Review’s annual Symposium, which will be held at the University of Arkansas Law School in Fayetteville on Friday, October 13, 2023. If you accept an invitation, the Law Review will provide transportation and accommodation in Fayetteville. Following the Symposium, proposals will be developed into approximately forty-page papers, which will be due by January 5, 2024. Once completed, we plan to publish the papers in Volume 77 of the Law Review.

Proposals should be submitted to the Symposium Editor, John Hudson  ([email protected]) and Professor Annie Smith ([email protected]) with the subject line “Children at Work” by August 1, 2023. Decisions will be communicated by August 7, 2023. Should you have any questions, please contact John and Professor Smith at the above listed emails.