Penelope Simons, Areli Valencia and Viviana Fernandez
Director Penelope Simons and Associate Director Viviana Fernandez represented the Human Rights Research and Education Centre (HRREC) at the annual conference of the Association of Human Rights Institutes (AHRI), held from September 11 to 13 at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP) in Lima.

This year’s theme, “Protecting Human Rights from the Global Spread of Organized Crime,” brought together a diverse group of speakers, including PUCP authorities, UN Special Rapporteurs Elizabeth Salmon (co-organizer of the conference) and Ben Saul, members of the Peruvian judiciary, Latin American NGOs, and representatives from human rights institutes around the world.

During the conference, Viviana Fernandez attended the AHRI Executive Board meeting and chaired a panel titled “Exploitation, Discrimination and Recruitment: The Impact of Organized Crime on Vulnerable Groups.” Both Penelope Simons and Viviana Fernandez participated in the AHRI General Assembly and met with Dr. Areli Valencia, a former Gordon Henderson Postdoctoral Fellow now residing in Peru.

The conference concluded with the adoption of the AHRI Lima Declaration, which reaffirms the commitment of member institutes to address the human rights challenges posed by organized crime.

Watch also the video highlighting the conference's key moments, which was shown during the closing ceremony.