Music as a witness to change
International Human Rights Music Festival
What IHRMF is
The place where human rights are not only debated but heard.
The International Human Rights Music Festival (IHRMF) is a Geneva-based platform advancing universal human rights through music and public dialogue.
Rooted in International Geneva and aligned with the annual rhythm of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the platform brings culture, multilateralism, and lived experience into closer conversation.
Why IHRMF
Human rights are under pressure, and public attention is increasingly fragmented.
The distance between where policy is shaped and where human experience is lived remains wide.
Music can carry testimony, hold memory, and affirm human dignity in ways few other forms can.
IHRMF exists to help close that gap by curating spaces where human rights become shared experience
and where that experience can find its way back to the rooms where policy is shaped.
How IHRMF
Three strands one platform.
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/01
Showcase for change
Year-round curated convenings that blend cultural diplomacy towards human rights mobilisation. These focused gatherings forge connections across multilateral, civic, and cultural spaces. They sharpen attention to urgent and emerging issues. Sparking dialogue towards change.
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Annual festival
The annual March festival is the public moment during the main session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. It gathers young people, musicians, and communities across local and international spaces, turning human rights from principle into lived experience.
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/03
Targeted fund
In time, IHRMF aims to establish a targeted fund that supports practical music-led initiatives that uphold human dignity.