Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English en
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

GovErning humaN rights through partnErShIpS: investigating the normative and operational interface of international law and multistakeholder governance

Project description

Uncovering challenges in human rights governance and delivery

In the quest for Sustainable Development Goals, multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs) have emerged as vital players, driving progress in human rights/public goods domains like food, health, education, and water. However, this unprecedented shift towards MSPs in international law lacks critical scrutiny, leaving questions about its effectiveness and consequences unanswered. With this in mind, the ERC-funded GENESIS project will examine the interface between international law and multistakeholderism, shedding light on how multistakeholder partnerships influence human rights governance and presenting pathways to enhance their impact. With a focus on uncovering norms, understanding operational impacts, and identifying effective pathways, GENESIS aims to shape the future of MSPs and their role in upholding human rights on a global scale.

Objective

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals hail multistakeholder partnerships (MSPs) as key actors in achieving sustainable development. MSPs that bring together states, businesses, philanthropy and civil society are increasingly in the frontlines of providing public goods that are human rights such as food, health, education and water. In these domains, partnerships are spearheading the continued expansion of multistakeholder governance into international law, including human rights law. This expansion has been taking place without critical appraisal with respect to its effectiveness and consequences.GENESIS breaks new ground by exploring the normative and operational implications of this shift, both at the system-level and at the level of specific global partnering initiatives and individual multistakeholder partnerships. GENESIS investigates the interface of international law and multistakeholder governance in the realisation of human rights. It analyses how the paradigms of multilateralism and multistakeholderism diverge or converge as they simultaneously govern the domains of food, health, education and water through human rights law and multistakeholder partnerships, respectively.

GENESIS has three main objectives that will generate high research and policy gains. First, GENESIS will uncover and understand how norms that govern human rights through multistakeholder partnerships are made in the post-2015 era in the governance of food(SDG 2), health (SDG 3), education (SDG 4) and water (SDG 6). Second, GENESIS will investigate how multistakeholder partnerships impact the way human rights are operationalised. Third, GENESIS will identify pathways to an effective uptake of human rights legal standards by multistakeholder partnerships. In doing so, GENESIS will derive insights on whether and how international law and multistakeholder governance can generate common ground when governing public goods that are human rights.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

Keywords

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Funding Scheme

HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

(opens in new window) ERC-2023-STG

See all projects funded under this call

Host institution

UNIVERSITEIT ANTWERPEN
Net EU contribution
€ 1 488 784,00
Address
PRINSSTRAAT 13
2000 Antwerpen
Belgium
Region
Vlaams Gewest Prov. Antwerpen Arr. Antwerpen
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost
€ 1 488 784,00

Beneficiaries (1)