University News Last updated 16 October 2022
Dr Alice Storey, a Senior Lecturer in Law, has received an award from the British Academy/Leverhulme Trust’s latest round of Small Research Grants, to support her research project titled ‘Implementing Recommendations from the UN's Universal Periodic Review: Strengthening the Role of Civil Society Organisations’.
The Universal Periodic Review
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is an innovative mechanism, peer-reviewing all 193 UN Member States’ protection and promotion of human rights. This was created alongside the UN Human Rights Council in 2006 and began its first cycle in 2008. All Member States have been reviewed three times, with the fourth cycle commencing in late 2022. Dr Storey’s project is part of the BCU Centre for Human Rights’ UPR Project at BCU.
British Academy/Leverhulme Trust Funding
The British Academy/Leverhulme Trust Small Research Grants funding scheme awards up to £10,000 to academics working in Social Sciences, the Humanities and the Arts for the People and the Economy disciplines, to help cover the cost of expenses arising from a specific research project. The British Academy/Leverhulme Trust has awarded £1.6 million in funding to support 188 research projects throughout the UK in the latest round of Small Research Grants. Dr Storey has received an award of £9,996.60.
Dr Storey’s project will examine the role of Civil Society Organisations in the UPR and provide a blueprint for strengthening their engagement, engaging civil society in an online survey and one-to-one interview. The project runs from September 2022 to August 2024. Dr Storey will use the funding to employ a Research Assistant, who will assist in delivering the first part of the study and disseminate the blueprint to key UPR actors in Geneva, Switzerland.
Dr Storey said: