Rebecca Barber
About/Bio
Rebecca Barber is a Research Fellow with the Asia Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect and a PhD Candidate at the TC Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland. Her research focuses on the competence of the UN General Assembly in relation to atrocity prevention and response. Her research draws on more than 15 years of experience in humanitarian assistance, primarily with international NGOs, including long-term roles in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan and Indonesia and shorter-term assignments throughout South-East Asia and the Pacific. She is admitted to practice as a legal practitioner to the Supreme Court of Victoria, and serves on the Advisory Board of the International Rule of Law Initiative and the IHL Advisory Committee of the Australian Red Cross.
Recently Published
There wasn’t before, and now there even more definitely isn’t, any legal barrier to providing cross-border humanitarian assistance in northwest Syria
February 13, 2023
Rebecca Barber
For three long days following last week’s earthquake in Southern Türkiye, thousands of people in northwest Syria lay trapped under rubble, with no help from the UN. The road through Türkiye to the border crossing between southern Türkiye and northwest Syria, Bab al-Hawa, was damaged. Although, to quote the International Crisis Group’s Syria Analyst Dareen Khalifa,…
Could Russia be Suspended from the United Nations?
March 1, 2022
Rebecca Barber
The General Assembly is currently meeting in Emergency Special Session on Ukraine, and will likely pass a resolution condemning Russia’s aggression, demanding the withdrawal of troops, and urging a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Such a resolution will be an important step, but also begs the question: if these appeals for peace are not heeded, what could be…
What can the UN General Assembly do about Russian Aggression in Ukraine?
February 26, 2022
Rebecca Barber
Yesterday Devika Hovell wrote an excellent post on this forum, rightly noting that the Security Council was not the body to deal with Russian aggression in Ukraine. Hovell pointed to the General Assembly as the most appropriate alternative, and suggested that the Security Council should pass a ‘Uniting for Peace’ (U4P) resolution, referring…
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Popular articles by Rebecca Barber
What can the UN General Assembly do about Russian Aggression in Ukraine?
February 26, 2022
Rebecca Barber
Yesterday Devika Hovell wrote an excellent post on this forum, rightly noting that the Security Council was not the body to deal with Russian aggression in Ukraine. Hovell pointed to the General Assembly as the most appropriate alternative, and suggested that the Security Council should pass a ‘Uniting for Peace’ (U4P) resolution, referring…
Could Russia be Suspended from the United Nations?
March 1, 2022
Rebecca Barber
The General Assembly is currently meeting in Emergency Special Session on Ukraine, and will likely pass a resolution condemning Russia’s aggression, demanding the withdrawal of troops, and urging a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Such a resolution will be an important step, but also begs the question: if these appeals for peace are not heeded, what could be…
Will the Taliban Represent Afghanistan at the UN General Assembly?
September 1, 2021
Rebecca Barber
The work of the Credentials Committee of the General Assembly is normally procedural. Typically, the Committee reviews the credentials submitted by state representatives, and ensures they comply with the Assembly’s procedural rules. The Committee is scarcely ever called upon to consider matters of government legitimacy. In stark contrast to this status quo, it seems this year’s…