EU Delegation Welcomes Geneva High-School Students for Human Rights Day 2025

Human Rights Day is not only a moment to reflect on the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, but also an opportunity to engage the people who will shape human rights work in the future. Many of the students who attended are at a stage where they are thinking about their studies and future careers. By inviting them into the Delegation and letting them hear directly from the people who work on human rights every day, we hoped to make the EU’s role in Geneva more accessible and to show how the Human Rights Council affects real issues around the world.

The morning began with a short plenary session, where EU Ambassador Deike Potzel  introduced the Human Rights Council and the EU’s engagement within it. Afterwards, the students were divided into three small groups, they participated in two rounds of interactive breakout sessions, each led by an EU human rights expert. The sessions were designed to give students the space to ask questions, express their views, and explore how these issues connect to their own experiences.

After the sessions, the groups reconvened for a wrap-up discussion in which they could share their final reflections about what they had learned. The Delegation hopes that this encounter not only shed light on the EU’s human rights work, but also encouraged students to stay curious, think critically, and consider how they might one day contribute to these efforts themselves.