Spark - Stories from Advocates for Global Change

Human Rights 3/3 with Markus Schefer - Ensuring human rights of persons with disabilities

Around 20% of society has some form of disability and this has wide impacts on the way a person leads their life, often in ways that are not commonly thought of. In this episode, Markus Schefer [https://ius.unibas.ch/en/persons/markus-schefer/], Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law at the University of Basel [https://ius.unibas.ch/en/] and a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities [https://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/crpd], talks about how legal frameworks, advocacy, and public awareness can work together to help ensure the respect of human rights for persons with disabilities. We dive into the state of disability rights in Switzerland, the everyday barriers that may limit people’s autonomy, and why progress often requires persistent pressure from civil society. We also learn about the work of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and understand how legal tools can help shape national and international human rights initiatives.

Human Rights 2/3 with Erika Schläppi - Fighting for women’s rights in a changing world

In this episode, Erika Schläppi, a Swiss lawyer and expert consultant on human and women’s rights, shares insights from her work in international cooperation, peace-building, and governance, focusing on how justice systems can become more accessible to women and marginalized groups. Erika Schläppi talks about the work she does with her consultancy firm (ximpulse [https://www.ximpulse.ch/]) in international projects advising stakeholders on building fair and accessible justice systems. She reflects on the importance of cultural sensitivity, listening, and collaboration in her work, from Bolivia to Tajikistan, and Albania. She also discusses her role at the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW [https://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/cedaw]), explaining what the committee does and why its work is important for global gender equality.

Human Rights 1/3 with Stefan Schlegel - Human rights development and migration law

Stefan Schlegel shares how human rights are not a given but a fragile achievement that must be defended anew by each generation. With a deep passion for migration law and a drive to challenge conventional thinking, he explains why Switzerland’s delayed creation of a national human rights body matters now more than ever. From his reflections on bias and resilience to his vision for a more open society, Stefan’s insights offer a compelling look into the evolving landscape of human rights. He states that human rights aren’t just laws in books—they’re living principles that need the younger generation’s voice, curiosity, and courage to keep evolving and protecting everyone, especially in times of change. He also reflects on ways to overcome bias and the importance of including different perspectives, one of which is by combining law with other fields such as economics and sociology. Stefan Schlegel is a member of the Swiss Young Academy [https://en.swissyoungacademy.ch] and the Director of the newly  founded Swiss Human Rights Institution [https://www.isdh.ch/en] in Fribourg which specializes in migration law.

Social media and democracy 3/3 with Tommaso Venturini - Exploring social media and internet culture

Innovative methods for studying digitalization and its social impacts In this episode, we sit down with Prof. Tommaso Venturini [https://www.tommasoventurini.it/wp/], a social scientist from the Media Lab at the University of Geneva, to explore how social media is transforming our information landscape. He discusses his interdisciplinary approach to studying digital technologies, combining quantitative analysis of large datasets with qualitative deep dives into specific cases. We explore the evolution of internet culture—from the early promise of horizontal, democratic communication to today's algorithm-driven attention economy. Tommaso gives his perspective on how recommendation algorithms have replaced traditional media gatekeepers, shifting the challenge from "access to speaking" to "access to listening" and why we should move past viewing young people as victims of technology (a pattern repeated with TV and video games) and focus on smarter regulation instead. He explains how internet culture resembles oral traditions, where information requires constant repetition to persist, and why the study of folklore can help understand internet subcultures and conspiracy theories. He also explains how he engages with citizens through his work at the Public Data Lab [https://publicdatalab.org/] and Citizen Facts [https://www.media-initiative.ch/project/citizen-facts/] project.

Social media and democracy 2/3 with Sophie Timmermann: Protecting democracy with fact-checking

Have you ever wondered how false information spread online can influence democracy and the public’s trust in it? Or would you like to know what the work of a fact-checker looks like? In this episode, we hear from Sophie Timmermann, head of the fact-checking unit at CORRECTIV [https://correctiv.org], a non-profit investigative media outlet in Germany. She shares what it’s like to do fact-checking professionally, discusses the influence of social media and disinformation on democracy, and explains why “prebunking” might be one of our best defenses in the fight against the spread of false information on social media. We hear about two influential reporting lines at CORRECTIV: fact-checking reports on Doppelganger [https://correctiv.org/en/fact-checking-en/2024/07/22/inside-doppelganger-how-russia-uses-eu-companies-for-its-propaganda/], a Russian campaign to spread propaganda using European companies. And an investigation on the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party’s efforts to deport millions of people living in Germany [https://correctiv.org/en/latest-stories/2024/01/15/secret-plan-against-germany/]. Follow CORRECTIV on instagram [https://www.instagram.com/correctiv_org?igsh=MW12YmZvYWRicTZ4Yw==], youtube [https://youtube.com/@correctiv_org?si=vBFyIAmP2jZr8FYm], X [https://twitter.com/correctiv_org], and whatsapp [https://api.whatsapp.com/send/?phone=4915117535184&text&type=phone_number&app_absent=0], and donate here [https://correctiv.org/en/single-donation/] to help their work.