Prof Morgera contributes to webinars on transformative ocean research, human rights and small-scale fishing communities
On 10 November, Prof Elisa Morgera contributed to a webinar organized by the One Ocean Hub in collaboration with the FAO on a “Small-Scale Fisheries and Blue Justice: Procedural and Substantive Rights of Fisherfolks” for the UN-Nippon Fellows and Alumni, as part of an ongoing collaboration with the UN Division on Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (UNDOALOS). Her presentation, based on a draft paper co-authored with SCELG PhD researcher Julia Nakamura, on the role and practical relevance of international legal instruments for the recognition and full realisation of the human rights of small-scale fishers, comparing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the context of food security and poverty eradication. The presentation explained why these legal instruments came into being, and discuss their respective contributions. Hub colleagues then discussed how these instruments matter in the specific context of small-scale fisheries in South Africa and Ghana. Specifically, they discuss what the definition of small-scale fisheries in South Africa and Ghana entails at legal and practical levels, the problems that arise due to variability in the sector, and procedural and substantive rights in the context of small-scale fisheries and the implications of COVID-19 to the protection of these rights.
Watch the webinar recording here
In addition, on 15 October, Elisa Morgera gave a guest lecture for the series “Theorizing Law of the Sea in Context” organized by the Norwegian Centre for the Law of the Sea (NCLOS), at The Arctic University of Norway. NLCOS explores law of the sea in context to enrich law of the sea scholarship and presenting novel theoretical and methodological perspectives. Elisa’s lecture was titled "What I have learnt (so far) about inter-disciplinarity for transformative ocean research".
In her presentation, she highlighted: the role/responsibility of research funders in enabling transformative inter-disciplinary research; the importance of discussing different views on what inter- and trans-disciplinarity entail (see previous blogs here and here); the role of law in supporting inter-disciplinary research that can contribute to human rights and the environment; and the lessons learnt in the co-development of the Hub's Code of Practice.