Once again, to commemorate International Human Rights Day, marking the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, the Institut de Drets Humans and the Faculty of Law of the University of Valencia have organised Human Rights Week. This year, under the theme “Human Rights Under Threat”, the initiative aims to foster debate and raise awareness about the current risks faced by rights and freedoms worldwide.

Human Rights Week seeks to raise awareness among society and the university community about the importance of defending human rights in the face of threats such as political polarisation, disinformation, and the erosion of the rule of law.

Among the participants are, notably, Hélène Tigroudja and Carlos Fernández Liesa, members of the United Nations Human Rights Committee. The closing session, dedicated to “Culture, Sport and Human Rights”, will be delivered by José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, President of the Spanish National Sports Council.

Throughout the week, lectures, workshops, and round tables will feature international experts, academics, and civil society organisations, addressing topics such as:

• Backsliding in international protection: weakening of safeguards and the impact of armed conflicts and migration crises.

• Emerging challenges: artificial intelligence, climate change and their implications for human rights.

• Structural discrimination and violence: gender, race, ethnicity and social vulnerability.

• Access to justice and effective judicial protection in times of crisis.

Highlighted activities include:

• The 1st Forum on Jurisdiction and Argumentation in Human Rights, in which Magistrate Gloria Poyatos Matas, President of the Social Chamber of the High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands, will receive the award for good argumentative practices in human rights.

• The International Conference “Justice for Palestine: Perspectives from International Criminal Law and International Human Rights Law”, organised together with several Turkish universities and the Turkiye Hukuk platform. A related round table, titled “Palestine: Testimonies in the Face of Genocide”, will feature journalist Teresa Aranguren Amézola, author of “Palestina, la existencia negada”, and physician Raül Incertis, who appeared in the RNE podcast “Vivir y morir en Gaza”.

• The “Mario Ruiz” Conversation Series on literature, cinema, and human rights, coordinated by Professor Javier de Lucas, which this year will focus on “Gender-Based Violence in Cinema”.

Other participants include academics such as Rafael Escudero (memory policies), Rogelio Flores (constitutional resilience and rights), and José Luis Rey Pérez (“Poverty as a Denial of Rights”). The III Annual Report “Everyday Discrimination Due to Racism and Xenophobia in Valencia” will also be presented.

The event coincides with the 20th anniversary of the Institut Universitari de Drets Humans of the University of Valencia (https://www.uv.es/idh). Since its creation in March 2005, the centre has carried out significant research and training activities aimed at deepening knowledge and raising awareness of the challenges affecting human rights, demonstrating a strong commitment to defending the most threatened rights. Since its inception, its mission has been to encourage reflection on the ongoing struggle for justice inherent to human rights.

This year has included several commemorative activities, notably the 10th “El Tiempo de los Derechos” Congress (22–23 May 2025), which brought together more than one hundred researchers from 16 Spanish research centres belonging to the El Tiempo de los Derechos Network (https://redtiempodelosderechos.com), as well as the publication of the collective book “Human Rights. A Declaration” (Tirant lo Blanch, 2025), freely accessible at:

https://www.uv.es/idh/novetats/2025/Libro_tirant_idh/2025_derechos_humanos_una_declaracion_Tirant.pdf