Human Rights in a Divided World
In-person, Members-only
Thursday, April 16, 2026 | 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM ET
As foreign policy becomes increasingly transactional and traditional aid mechanisms are being dismantled, the future of human rights is entering a period of profound uncertainty, while humanitarian challenges are increasing. The number of displaced people is reaching record highs, the humanitarian crises in Sudan and Ukraine continue to take a devastating toll and the so-called “New Gaza” plan raises questions about the future of Palestinian rights. In addition, global health standards are declining, and debates over how to protect citizens from repressive regimes further highlight the scale of today’s challenges. What role can multilateral institutions like the UN Human Rights Council realistically play in addressing today’s most urgent crises? How are shifting global norms impacting human rights, and are there opportunities for a renewed and stronger leadership?
Join us for an in-person, members-only conversation on Thursday, April 16, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM with Ambassador Michèle Taylor, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council (2022–2025), as we explore the evolving landscape of global human rights and what lies ahead.
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SPEAKER:
Ambassador Michèle Taylor
Avril D. Haines, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council (2022–2025), as we explore the evolving landscape of global human rights and what lies ahead.
Ambassador Michèle Taylor was sworn in as U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council on February 21, 2022 and retired on 19 January 2025, having successfully led the United States back onto the Council after withdrawal in 2018. She focused on promoting and protecting human rights for all individuals; engaged deeply strategies to combat all manners of racism, anti-religious bias, and discrimination; led efforts to isolate Russia and improve membership on the Council; highlighted the opportunities and perils of emerging technologies; called for accountability of the PRC and other states that seek to obfuscate their own human rights violations; insisted that no country is above scrutiny at the Human Rights Council and is obligated to the standards of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law; Launched the Business and Human Rights Lawyers Association while serving as head of the US delegation to the annual Business and Human Rights Forum in Geneva; and led efforts to combat antisemitism, including by creating the first-ever coalition of countries at the UN to take action to counter this oldest form of hate. She championed efforts to open access to the Guantanamo detention center and signed the letter of invitation to the Special Rapporteur on Protecting and Preserving Human Rights While Countering Terrorism whose report helped the United States chart a path forward on this dark chapter in our history, showing the U.S. is strongest when we lead by example. During her time in Geneva, Ambassador Taylor created and launched the International Youth Gender Champions program, a mentorship program designed to help the next generation of leaders close the gender gap worldwide.
Ambassador Taylor is a lifelong human rights activist and advocate with a determined commitment to service. As a daughter and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, the Ambassador brings to her work a profound appreciation for the crucial role we all can and must play to promote universal human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Prior to assuming her Ambassador role, she served as a Board Member of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Council. At the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Ambassador Taylor served on the Committee on Holocaust Denial and State-Sponsored Anti-Semitism and the Committee on Conscience, which supports the work of the Simon Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide. She has served in leadership roles on many nonprofit boards and as treasurer of the Midtown Improvement District board (an Atlanta CID) as appointed by two Atlanta mayors.
Ambassador Taylor has a long history of political engagement, having served as Vice-Chair of the National Finance Committee for the Democratic Party and as campaign chair for local and national candidates over decades of service. During the 2020 election cycle, she founded two political organizations, serving as co-Chair of Unite the Country and CEO of Battleground Georgia.
Taylor served for two decades in various roles for the North Carolina Outward Bound School, including as a board governance chair, vice chair, chair-elect, instructor, climbing specialist, and course director.
Since departing from post in Geneva, Ambassador Taylor serves in leadership roles as a board director of non-profit organizations and is currently serving as a Distinguished Professor of the Practice at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA. She and her husband Kenneth, are the proud parents of two adult children. She was educated at Mills College (B.A) and Boston University (M.A.), and in her free time, the Ambassador can be found scaling mountains, Telemark skiing, or as stoker on the tandem bike she and Kenneth travel with throughout the U.S. and overseas. She is currently writing her first novel for children.
THIS SESSION IS FREE FOR NETWORK 20/20’s MEMBERS
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Image credit: Image by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
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