Civil society calls for a more transparent, inclusive, meritocratic and engaging selection process Later this year the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, is due to appoint a new High Commissioner for Human Rights – the UN’s most senior human rights official. This is a vital moment for the Secretary-General, for the UN and its human rights pillar, and most of all …
An independent analysis of the High Level Segment of the Human Rights Council At the opening of the 37th session of the Human Rights Council, nearly one hundred world leaders (e.g. presidents, prime ministers, ministers) delivered high level speeches commenting on the state of global human rights in 2018, and presenting their country’s priorities for the year ahead. The Universal Rights …
On Tuesday 5th December, the Human Rights Council (Council) held a special session on the ‘human rights situation of the minority Rohingya Muslim population and other minorities in the Rakhine State of Myanmar’. The special Session was requested on 28 November 2017, via two official letters written by H.E Mr Shameem Ahsan, Ambassador of Bangladesh; and H.E Dr Abdulaziz Alwasil, Ambassador of Saudi …
A short explainer Almost immediately after taking Office in January this year, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced his intention to introduce wide-ranging reforms to the way the UN works and how its delivers on its mandate. By and large, those reforms have been warmly received by States, civil society, and the press. Indeed, on 18 September, during a high-level event …
On 20th October 2017, the President of the Human Rights Council, H.E. Mr Joaquín Alexander Maza Martelli, Ambassador of El Salvador, called an extraordinary organisational meeting to try to agree a series of modest changes to the Council’s methods of work and, in turn, to agree on a request to the General Assembly (GA) for more resources and meeting time. This …
Quick summary The 36th regular session of the Human Rights Council (HRC36) was held from Monday 11th September to Friday 29th September 2017. On 11th September, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, H.E. Mr Zeid Ra’ad Al- Hussein, presented an oral update on the global human rights situation. A number of high level dignitaries delivered statements during the session, including inter alia, H.E. Mr …
Human rights analysis of high level speeches at the General Debate at the UN General Assembly What are the human rights situations and issues that keep world leaders up at night in 2017? What are the human rights priorities of governments for the next twelve months? The best place to get a sense of both is the general debate of …
Quick summary The 35th regular session of the Human Rights Council (HRC35) was held from Tuesday 6th June to Friday 23rd June 2017. On 6th June, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, H.E. Mr Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, presented an oral update on the global human rights situation. A number of dignitaries delivered statements during the session, including inter alia, H.E. Mr Tabaré Vazquez, …
The Human Rights Council’s decisions are not binding. As an institution, it cannot force States to do what they do not want to do. Rather, as per its founding mandate (GA resolution 60/251), the Council must work ‘through cooperation and dialogue’ to engage States and to encourage, support, cajole, press and – in some cases – shame States into implementing …
On April 18th, Nikki Haley, the United States Permanent Representative in New York and President of the Security Council, called a thematic debate on human rights and the prevention of armed conflict. During the debate, the US made an important and valid point: that human rights violations are an important root cause – and early warning sign – of ‘real …
