The Universal Rights Group

URG – NY 

URG pleased to announce establishment of New York office
and partnership with Ralph Bunche Institute

On 25th January 2017, the Universal Rights Group (URG) officially established its permanent office in New York, as part of a new partnership with the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies (RBI). The URG, which now has permanent offices in Geneva, Switzerland, Bogota, Colombia, and New York, USA, is an independent think-tank dedicated to analyzing and strengthening global human rights policy.

Located at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY), the Ralph Bunche Institute is home to a range of prestigious and innovative projects and programs that seek to improve scholarly and public understanding of international affairs and to contribute to solving international problems. It also hosts visiting scholars and graduate students from around the world who wish to take advantage of the institute’s unique expertise and access to international organizations.

The opening of the New York office will enable the URG to better engage with UN headquarters, the General Assembly and its Third Committee, the Security Council, UNDP and other UN stakeholders, as well as with North America-based policymakers, think tanks, and NGOs. Speaking on the occasion of the opening of the new office, Rose Parris Richter, the Director of URG NYC, said, “We are delighted to open a new chapter in the development of the URG, the world’s only think tank dedicated to international human rights policy, and are particularly pleased to take this step in partnership with the RBI, a globally renowned institution for the study of contemporary international affairs.”

The substantive research activities of the RBI in the international political arena – especially with regard to multilateral institutions – dovetail well with the work of the URG, which endeavors to unpack some of the most pressing issues facing the international community today. This common ground provides the foundation for collaboration on a range of projects.

Located minutes from UN headquarters in mid-town Manhattan, the institute draws not only on the distinguished faculty of The City University of New York and other universities and colleges in the metropolitan area and worldwide, but also on a broad network of analysts, policymakers, and practitioners.  Together with the Ralph Bunche Institute, the URG aims to provide human rights policy research activities in partnership with CUNY faculty, students, and visiting scholars with a wide variety of research interests in international topics oriented toward engaging human rights policymakers at international, regional and domestic levels.

URG NYC will primarily focus on human rights and freedom of religion or belief, including international initiatives to engage with and combat religious intolerance, but will also dedicate a substantial amount of its work to providing a forum for discussion and debate on important human rights issues facing the international community.  Activities initiated by URG NYC will also serve as a window into the work of various Committees of the General Assembly, especially the Third Committee, as well as the efforts of other UN bodies and agencies to integrate human rights across the UN system — a window designed to promote transparency, accountability, awareness, and effectiveness.

As an early contribution to providing such a window, URG has also launched a new online information resource – the UN Human Rights Resolutions Portal.  Together with the opening of URG NYC itself, URG hopes thereby to help boost the efficiency and effectiveness of the international human rights system.

The new Portal, which expands on URG’s previous portal by including human rights resolutions adopted by the General Assembly’s Third Committee (in addition to Human Rights Council texts), can be accessed via the URG’s website at: www.universal-rights.org.

URG NYC is headed by its Director, Rose Parris Richter (see attached biography for details). Reflecting on the integration of URG into the New York community of civil society actors and institutions, Ms. Richter said:

“We’re delighted about our new partnership with the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies.  We believe the synergies that will be generated by our work will bolster the URG’s efforts to produce for policy-makers located here in New York the same independent and accessible policy analysis and forum for the exploration of solutions to long-staging and pressing issues that we’re known for in Geneva, especially as it relates to the realization of freedom of religion or belief. We very much look forward to working together with the faculty, staff, and students at CUNY to help shape the international human rights norms that the URG offices in Geneva and New York will advance in the coming years.”

URG NYC will aim to engage with all stakeholders, including all States from the global North and the global South, NGOs, UN officials and independent experts. We see this inclusive approach and objectivity as key strengths.”