Dr McCall-Smith reflects on the GJA work with Association of Human Rights Institutes

After six years, Dr Kasey McCall-Smith demitted as the Chair of the Association of Human Rights Institutes (AHRI), meaning that the Secretariat of AHRI is also transferring from the Global Justice Academy to the Human Rights Centre at the University of Pretoria. AHRI is the largest global network of human rights research institutes.

The Secretariat was supported by the Centre for the Study of Human Rights Law at Strathclyde University, with Dr Elaine Webster serving as Executive Secretary.

During the opening of the 2023 AHRI conference, hosted by the Pedro Arrupe Human Rights Institute at Deusto University in Bilbao, Spain, Dr McCall-Smith reflected on the work that had been done by both Scottish Secretariat during their time leading the organisation.

Over the term Dr McCall-Smith and Dr Webster served the AHRI network, it grew from 59 to 84 member institutes plus one observer (the EU Fundamental Rights Agency) and expanded its reach to every continent. They were also responsible for the launch of the AHRI Book Series with Edward Elgar two years ago.