The international conference “Human Rights in Crisis: War, Conflict and Displacement“, held on 17–18 April 2025 at Yerevan State University (YSU), brought together leading academics, human rights defenders, international experts, government representatives, civil society actors, and young people to address the impact of conflict and displacement on human rights protection.
A key highlight of the opening day was a keynote speech by Raji Sourani, Right Livelihood 2013 Laureate from Gaza and founder of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza. He addressed the collapse of legal systems in conflict zones and called for renewed international solidarity and action.
Raji Sourani and Mariam Muradyan
The first panel explored human rights in unrecognized or partially recognized states—specifically Gaza, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Somaliland—through the lens of children affected by conflict. This session was part of the Child-War Project, an interdisciplinary study launched in January 2025 focusing on the rights of children in de facto states. Led by Dr. Marieke Hopman (Maastricht University), the panel featured Ayed Abu Eqtaish (Defence for Children International – Palestine), Guleid Jama (Somaliland), and Mariam Muradyan (YSU).
Guleid Jama and Marieke Hopman
The second panel addressed the 2023 displacement of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, examining legal responses, government policies, and the role of international assistance. Speakers included representatives from YSU, the Human Rights Defender’s Office of Artsakh, the Armenian Ministry of Internal Affairs, and UNHCR Armenia.
A standout moment of the day was the Child-Led Panel titled “Our Rights, Our Stories”, where young members of the Armenian Child Leadership Team (CLT) shared personal reflections on justice, identity, and memory. Their moving testimonies, including those by Diana Petrosyan and Nana Harutyunyan, earned standing ovations.
Representatives of the Armenian Child Leadership Team (an initiative of the Global Campus)
Day two opened with a video message from Oleksandra Matviichuk, Head of Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties and 2022 Right Livelihood Laureate, focusing on human rights resilience and the responsibility of international institutions to support war-affected populations.
The session that followed presented findings from the research project “Resilient Political Systems at the Crossroads of Hybrid Warfare and Peace”, a comparative analysis of the political systems in Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran, Russia, and Ukraine using the methodology of the Stability Index of Political System (a monograph is available in Armenian). Arusyak Aleksanyan introduced the project, and the panel explored how fragile democracies react to hybrid threats and displacement-induced political instability.
The final panel gathered speakers from Syunik Region, People in Need Armenia, the Tufenkian Foundation, and YSU’s Department of Social Work, highlighting efforts to support displaced populations in Armenia through legal aid, psychosocial services, and community-based solutions.
Learn more on the YSU website.
Main photo by Salah Darwish on Unsplash