Welcome to the Virtual Knowledge Center for the Focus Area Conflicts and Human Rights.

In the focus area Conflicts and Human Rights, we address the major challenges of our time through an interdisciplinary approach that combines political science, law, ethics, and anthropology.

The world community we live in  today is a changing community. It is not only facing, amongst others, the rise of violence and terrorism, but also a growing number of (civil) wars and conflicts. These (civil) wars and conflicts are, amongst others, caused by mounting ethnic-religious tensions and a fierce competition for primary resources. In these conflicts, which are aggravated by vast migration flows and environmental crises, little or no heed is given to considerations of human rights.

The focus area of Conflicts and Human Rights covers a large field of research ranging, amongst others, from transitional justice, gender-related issues, ethical questions on warfare, legal international procedures  to human trafficking, human rights research and the legal and non-legal perspective on victims and perpetrators.

Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said that there can; "be no peace without development, no development without peace, and neither peace nor development without human rights". Through analysing the causes, mechanisms, and dynamics of major conflicts, and investigating preventive measures and normative regulations, our main ambition is to critically examine existing mechanisms towards peace building and develop more comprehensive approaches which respect to human rights in conflict areas.

More detailed information regarding the VKC Conflicts and Human Rights

Our members and e-mail adresses

List of Publications VKC Members

An overview of publications (Igitur)

An overview of research projects

The latest international legal news