Ghent, Belgium | January 19, 2026 — Three leading Flemish institutions — Ghent University, University of Antwerp, and Vrije Universiteit Brussel — will jointly award an honorary doctorate to Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.
The ceremony is scheduled for April 2, 2026, and will take place at the Queen Elisabeth Hall in Antwerp.
Recognition for Global Human Rights Advocacy
Francesca Albanese, born in Italy in 1977, is an internationally recognized human rights lawyer specializing in international law and Middle Eastern affairs. Since May 2022, she has served as the UN Special Rapporteur, becoming the first woman to hold the mandate. In 2025, she was re-elected for a second term, underscoring continued international trust in her leadership.
Albanese studied law at the University of Pisa and earned a Master’s degree in Human Rights from SOAS University of London. She is affiliated with the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University and co-founded the Global Network on the Question of Palestine.
Before assuming her UN mandate, Albanese worked for over a decade with major international bodies, including the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. Her legal scholarship covers issues such as self-determination, deprivation of liberty, children’s rights, and genocide.
Her 2020 book, Palestinian Refugees in International Law, published by Oxford University Press, is widely regarded as a key reference in the field.
source: Francesca Albanese
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