Olivia Richmond-Ferns Blog
Olivia Richmond-Ferns is a postgraduate student completing her MSc in Human Rights and International Politics.
The opportunity to visit Geneva to talk with professionals from various NGOs and organisations was one of the selling points of my Master’s programme in Human Rights and International Politics. This five-day trip over the summer felt like a reward for all our efforts.
Perhaps ill-prepared, I had the understanding that this trip was to be relatively relaxed, despite the various warnings by my lecturers about the work intensity. So, you would imagine my surprise at the 7:30 starts and 20:00 finishes, only to return to your room and finish your reading for the next day. This was much more networking heavy than I had anticipated- never have I ever been so active on LinkedIn- do follow the UofGSPS LinkedIn page!
This trip was invaluable for figuring out the inevitable question when you near your degree’s end - ‘so what are you going to do next?’.
Staying in the John Knox Centre- think Midsommer meets 70s architecture- I was struck by how gorgeous Geneva was.
We were right next to a field, amongst some beautiful traditional Swiss homes and some not-so-beautiful modern mission buildings draped in razor-wire. There was no time for rest, though- our first talk was to be from MENA Rights on the afternoon we arrived.
Something that struck me about the entire trip was the level of candour we received from our speakers; perhaps a pessimist, I was expecting few to stray too far from the party line, but we had some extremely genuine talks on the topics of burnout in the human rights field, the barriers to entry, and the precarity of this line of work. There was an understanding that there were things these practitioners wished they knew before going into the field and were very happy to answer honestly about the ups and downs of third sector work. Our speaker from MENA rights really set the tone for this- who seemed genuinely invested in our thoughts and experiences, giving us an accurate depiction of the challenges of his work.
Across these five days, we had the chance to talk with some amazing speakers. We were warned of the dreaded PowerPoint- the kind of speaker who rattles off a well-worn spiel before curtly asking for surface-level questions- luckily, we were spared from this experience for the most part.
The second day was unusually religion heavy, starting with meeting the World Council of Churches. Treated to three separate speakers, this organisation was surprisingly refreshing- who would expect to rock up to a church and start chatting about killer robots and nuclear disarmament?
We heard from someone on the team of the UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights; sat in a conference room in the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, our speaker explained how a background in anthropology helped her in her political career and how to bag a job at the UN.
Matthew at Human Rights House gave us an actual task that the organisation was dealing with- how would you handle holding Russia to account for their attack on Ukraine? This was the organisation I had presented on prior to the trip, so I was particularly excited. After giving our individual proposals, Matthew shared that he felt we were well-equipped to do his job- perhaps a reach, but nice to hear nonetheless!
Some other notable speakers were from Medicines Sans Frontiers, DOCIP, the International Organisation of Migration (who kept our passports for collateral for the visitor badges?), the International Labour Organisation (who conveniently did not want to discuss how their affiliated organisation, the UN, do not pay their interns).
In an outdoor meeting after dinner, between sneaky runs to the beer tap, we debriefed the day and discussed what we found surprising. A resounding comment was that we were surprised by how serious we were being taken by these professional human rights practitioners- to this, our lecturers assured us we were being taken seriously because we are serious people. This did wonders for the collective imposter syndrome.
The final day started with a meeting amongst ourselves to round off the trip- we were asked to submit a photo that we felt summed up our experience, which I then edited into a video that was presented. Our last meeting was with Claire Mahon, an International Human Rights Advocate and Advisor. Claire was scheduled with us to help answer any questions or give tips on how to go forth with the information we gained in Geneva. This meeting reaffirmed what I had already gathered about the city- it was not for me, at least long term. Claire assured us that there are ways to make a difference in human rights at home and that you don’t always have to be in the, frankly extortionate, home of diplomacy.
For the rest of the day, we were set free in Geneva to enjoy the sun, the beautiful sights, and a quick swim at Lake Geneva. We all met for a final dinner at a local restaurant before we went our own ways.
I highly recommend this trip to future years- the information was invaluable. It allowed potential future practitioners to decide if Geneva was for them- and for some, it won’t be. For myself, I am sceptical, but I am so glad that I went.