To mark the end of the International Year of Human Rights, the Human Rights Office of the City of Vienna is hosting the “Vienna Human Rights Conference” on 10 and 11 December 2023 at the Vienna City Hall.

The framework for the event is provided by three anniversaries that could be celebrated in 2023:

• 10 December marks the 75th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1948.
• The World Conference on Human Rights, which took place for the first time in Vienna from 14-25 June 1993, celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2023.
• Ten years ago, in 2013, the then City Councillor Sandra Frauenberger initiated the process to make Vienna a “Human Rights City”.

Numerous local and international experts will take these milestones in human rights development as an opportunity to reflect on and discuss human rights achievements and challenges of the present and future. They will discuss, for example, the extent to which human rights have been implemented at local level, the challenges inherent in the innovative concept of “human rights cities” and the significance of human rights in the economic system or in climate and environmental policy. On 11 December, non-governmental organisations and administrations will provide an insight into their work as part of a “human rights fair”.

Our colleague Camilla Sophia Haake will be looking at the connection between human rights and the environment on 11 December. She will moderate a panel discussion on the topic of “Human Rights & the Environment – A Growing Challenge”. Together with top-class experts Ernest Aigner (Competence Center for Climate and Health, Austrian National Public Health Institute), Sithara Pathirana (Program Director, Klima Biennale Wien), Michaela Krömer (Lawyer for Climate, Environmental and Constitutional Law), Hans Sakkers (Program Manager „Localising Human Rights“, City of Utrecht) and Lena Schilling (Climate Activist and Author) she will discuss, amongst others, how a human rights-based approach can contribute to climate and environmental protection against the backdrop of massive anthropocene exploitation, pollution and destruction of our living environment and which (local, national, international) stakeholders are responsible for this.

Participation in the event is free of charge for all interested parties, registration required. The programme of the event can be found here.