International human rights law should protect and promote every individual’s human rights. But the reality is that international covenants on human rights appear remote and unattainable for the vast majority of ordinary people. This perception is supported by the structure of international human rights law, which is based on agreements between States and on the expectation that States will be true to their obligations in relation to the human rights of their own citizens. This podcast, however, recounts how international human rights can become a collaborative project, with individuals and civil society working from the grassroots upwards and from the international sphere downwards to develop and enforce human rights obligations on States.

The subject matter of this journey is one of central importance: the care and education of the youngest amongst us. Our interviewees today have been a part of a process of advocating for and advancing the protection of early childhood education as a human right through collaborative ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ approaches. We will be speaking with project partners from a variety of organisations who share their experience of shaping human rights law interpretation and enforcement through practical advocacy, particularly on the right to ECCE.

In the first episode of this series we speak to Professor Alan Stein, Senior Research Fellow in Global Health and Public Policy, who specialises in early childhood development, Olivier De Schuter, advisor to the UN special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights and Professor Sandy Fredman, Professor of Law at Oxford University and Director of the OHRH. 

RightsUp is brought to you by the Oxford Human Rights Hub.

The Executive Producer is Meghan Campbell.

This episode was produced, edited and hosted by me, Sophie Smith.

Music for this series is by Rosemary Allmann.

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‘Rights in Crisis’, is a new RightsUp series from the Oxford Human Rights Hub in collaboration with the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development.

The series will feature topics on human rights and related issues in India with experts sharing their insights.

In our third episode for this series we discuss cash transfer schemes, in particular, unconditional cash transfer schemes. While these schemes are often designed to enhance women’s financial inclusion and autonomy, they could also reshape women’s relationship with the state. In this episode, we will explore how these initiatives navigate the fine line between empowerment, dependence and the gendered expectations that shape public policy.

Want to know more?

• Women’s work, never done, now paid: Assessing Tamil Nadu’s Urimai Thogai scheme

• A Right to Care, A Right to Welfare: A Study of the Kalaignar Mahalir Urimai Thittam
• Valuing Care, Recognising Rights, Reimagining Welfare
• Revaluing Unpaid Work through Unconditional Cash Transfers: The Case of the Orunodoi Scheme in Assam
• From Guarantees to Rights: Assessing Karnataka's Experiment with Basic income and Basic Services
  

RightsUp is brought to you by the Oxford Human Rights Hub.

This episode is in collaboration with the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development.

Executive produced by Meghan Campbell.

Hosted by Almas Shaikh and Aradhana Cherupara Vadekkethil.

Produced and edited by Sophie Smith.

Music for the series is by Rosemary Allman.

In the second episode of this two-part series, Justin Winchester speaks to Dame Laura Cox KC — a Justice of the England and Wales High Court between 2002 and 2016, and former Chairperson of the Bar Council Sex Discrimination Committee — about women's equality in the United Kingdom. 

Join us for a reflective discussion prompted by Baroness Harman’s 2025 Independent report on bullying, harassment, and sexual harassment at the Bar.

RightsUp is brought to you by the Oxford Human Rights Hub.

Executive produced by Meghan Campbell.

Hosted by Justin Winchester.

Produced and edited by Sophie Smith.

Music for the series is by Rosemary Allman.

In the first episode of this two-part series, Justin Winchester speaks to Dame Laura Cox KC — a Justice of the England and Wales High Court between 2002 and 2016, and former Chairperson of the Bar Council Sex Discrimination Committee — about women's equality in the United Kingdom. 

Join us for a reflective discussion prompted by Baroness Harman’s 2025 Independent report on bullying, harassment, and sexual harassment at the Bar.

RightsUp is brought to you by the Oxford Human Rights Hub.
Executive produced by Meghan Campbell.

Hosted by Justin Winchester.
Produced and edited by Sophie Smith.
Music for the series is by Rosemary Allman.

‘Rights in Crisis’, is a new RightsUp series from the Oxford Human Rights Hub in collaboration with the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development.

The series will feature topics on human rights and related issues in India with experts sharing their insights.

In our second episode for this series, Prof. Anup Surendranath and Prof. Jon Yorke, moderated by Dr Aradhana Cherupara Vadekkethil, critically assess the legal, moral and procedural dimensions of capital punishment and its broader human rights implications.

At a time when judicial scrutiny of capital punishment in India is intensifying, and global conversations on justice and state power are shifting, this discussion offers timely insights into the ethical and constitutional questions surrounding the death penalty.

Want to know more?

See https://thesquarecircleclinic.org/.

In this episode, Frances Hand talks to Dr Clara Chapdelaine Feliciati, Lawyer and Associate Professor of Law at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University about her recently published monograph, The Status of the Girl Child under International Law: A Semioethic Analysis.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/status-of-the-girl-child-under-international-law/568D0F764A3E85960F03056352CADD74

RightsUp is brought to you by the Oxford Human Rights Hub.

This episode is hosted by Frances Hand.

Executive produced by Meghan Campbell.

Produced and edited by Sophie Smith.

Music for this series is by Rosemary Allmann.

In this episode, Almas Shaikh talks with Dr Anthony Ubani and Dr Wycliffe Nyachoti Otiso discussing the book 'Sexual Harassment and the Law in Africa'. 

Dr Ubani is the pioneer executive director of #FixPolitics, fellow of the Chartered Institute of Administrators, author, speaker and alumnus of Manchester Business School and the University of Lagos, Nigeria. Dr Otiso is the Dean, School of Law at the Chuka University in Kenya and a contributor to the book. 

This book, edited by Furaha-joy Sekai Saungweme, Carol Chi Ngang and Graham Towl, presents new research into sexual harassment and violence across Africa and foregrounds the work of African scholars. 

RightsUp is brought to you by the Oxford Human Rights Hub.
This episode is hosted by Almas Shaikh.
Executive produced by Meghan Campbell.
Produced and edited by Sophie Smith.
Music for this series is by Rosemary Allmann.

'Rights in Crisis', is a new RightsUp series from the Oxford Human Rights Hub in collaboration with the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development. The series will feature topics on human rights and related issues in India with experts sharing their insights.

In this episode Dr. Janaki Srinivasan and Prof. Sandra Feldman, moderated by Dr Aradhana Cherupara Vadekkethil, discuss the nature of Indian gig economy and how it affects workers’ rights. This conversation explores the precarious conditions of gig workers in India, the legal frameworks shaping their rights, and the broader implications of platform economies on labour protections. With rising digital employment, questions of fair wages, job security, and social protections are more pressing than ever.

Want to know more? 

Read the Fairwork Principles 

Fairwork India Ratings 2024: Labour Standards in the Platform Economy 

Gender and Platform Work

RightsUp is brought to you by the Oxford Human Rights Hub.

This episode is hosted by Neeraj Shetye.

Executive produced by Meghan Campbell.

Produced and edited by Sophie Smith.

Music for this series is by Rosemary Allmann.

Vox pops on key human rights issues with human rights experts. (https://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/)

RightsUp is brought to you by the Oxford Human Rights Hub.
Executive produced and hosted by Meghan Campbell.
Produced and edited by Sophie Smith.
Music for this series is by Rosemary Allmann.

In this two-part podcast series, we are exploring why efforts to mitigate climate change need to be aware of women’s equality and why efforts to achieve women’s equality must respond to the climate crisis.

This series is a joint project from the Oxford Human Rights Hub, led by Professor Sandra Fredman, and the National Research Foundation-funded South African Research Chair in Equality, Law, and Social Justice at the University of the Witwatersrand, held by Professor Cathi Albertyn.

The conversations in this podcast series stem from a new edited collection, ‘Feminist Frontiers in Climate Justice: Rights, climate change and gender equality’, published by Edward Elgar in February 2023 and edited by Cathi Albertyn, Meghan Campbell, Helena Alviar García, Sandra Fredman, and Marta Rodriguez de Assis Machado.

RightsUp is brought to you by the Oxford Human Rights Hub.
Executive Produced by Meghan Campbell.
Produced, edited and narrated by Sophie Smith.
Music for this series is by Rosemary Allmann.

In this two-part podcast series, we are exploring why efforts to mitigate climate change need to be aware of women’s equality and why efforts to achieve women’s equality must respond to the climate crisis.

This series is a joint project from the Oxford Human Rights Hub, led by Professor Sandra Fredman, and the National Research Foundation-funded South African Research Chair in Equality, Law, and Social Justice at the University of the Witwatersrand, held by Professor Cathi Albertyn.

The conversations in this podcast series stem from a new edited collection, ‘Feminist Frontiers in Climate Justice: Rights, climate change and gender equality’, published by Edward Elgar in February 2023 and edited by Cathi Albertyn, Meghan Campbell, Helena Alviar García, Sandra Fredman, and Marta Rodriguez de Assis Machado.

RightsUp is brought to you by the Oxford Human Rights Hub.

Executive Produced by Meghan Campbell.

Produced, edited and narrated by Sophie Smith.

Music for this series is by Rosemary Allmann.