Report on the 53rd session of the Human Rights Council

by the URG team Blog, Blog, URG Human Rights Council Reports

Quick summary The 53rd regular session of the Human Rights Council (HRC53 ) was held from Monday 19 June to Friday 14 July 2023. On 11 and 12 July 2023, an urgent debate was convened to ‘discuss the alarming rise in premeditated and public acts of religious hatred as manifested by recurrent desecration of the Holy Quran in some European and other countries.’ …

Report on the Human Rights Council urgent debate on acts of religious hatred

by Geneva In Focus: Human rights and religion, URG Human Rights Council Reports, URG Human Rights Council Reports, URG Human Rights Council Reports

On 11th July 2023, during the 53rd session of the Human Rights Council, which opened on June 19, 2023, an urgent debate was convened to ‘discuss the alarming rise in premeditated and public acts of religious hatred as manifested by recurrent desecration of the Holy Quran in some European and other countries.’ The urgent debate was requested in an official …

Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, Malawi, Gambia, Costa Rica, Fiji and Romania lead democracy push at the Human Rights Council

by Marc Limon Blog, In focus: democracy, In focus: democracy, International human rights institutions, mechanisms and processes

On 11 July Ambassador Alexander Maisuradze, Permanent Representative of Georgia to the UN in Geneva, delivered a cross-regional statement at the 53rd session of the Human Rights Council calling on the body to assume a leadership role in the global reinvigoration of democracy. The statement, led by a group of main sponsors from Eastern Europe (Georgia, Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine), …

Nothing new under the sun: The Human Rights Council’s circular debates about efficiency and rationalisation

by Marc Limon Blog, International human rights institutions, mechanisms and processes

For the past decade, the Human Rights Council has, at regular intervals, grappled with the question of how to make its work more efficient, including through the rationalisation of initiatives, mandates, general debates, and panels, and through ‘technical fixes’ such as reducing speaking times. These efficiency drives have tended to come as a consequence of sporadic yet growing concern that …

The Council of Europe and the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment

by Amalia Ordóñez Vahí Blog, Blog

On 16-17 May, the Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe’s 46 members met at the Council’s  Fourth Summit  in Reykjavík to discuss the human rights impacts of current challenges, including the war in Ukraine, the climate crisis and the development of new technologies. The Summit concluded with the adoption of the  Reykjavík Declaration , which laid out the Council’s commitment …

Report of the 36th Special Session of the Human Rights Council on the human rights impact of the ongoing conflict in the Sudan

by Geneva Blog, Blog, URG Human Rights Council Reports

On Thursday 11 May 2023, the Human Rights Council convened a special session to address ‘the human rights impact of the ongoing conflict in the Sudan’. The Special Session was requested via an official letter dated 5 May signed by H.E. Simon Manley, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and submitted as a joint request by …

The urgent need to reform and revitalise item 10

by Marc Limon Blog, Blog

On 20 April, the Human Rights Council convened an intersessional meeting to review the effectiveness of its work under agenda item 10 on technical assistance and capacity building, and to seek ideas from States and civil society on how the Council might strengthen the effectiveness and impact of that work in the future In other words, is the Council effectively …

The human rights project, then and now

by Dr Bertrand G. Ramcharan Blog, Blog, By invitation

The 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will be celebrated on 10 December, 2023. It is timely to look back at human rights project at the start of the UN and to reflect on where it should go next. In 2005 the World Council of Churches (WCC) published a remarkable book by  John Nurser, For All Peoples …

Report on the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council

by Geneva Blog, Blog, URG Human Rights Council Reports, URG Human Rights Council Reports, URG Human Rights Council Reports

Quick Summary The 52nd regular session of the Human Rights Council (HRC52) was held from Monday 27th February to Tuesday 4th April 2023. As the main session of the Council, HRC52 began with a High-Level Segment (HLS). The 2023 HLS included speeches by more than 130 world leaders, including three heads or deputy heads of State, eight heads or deputy …

What are the human rights priorities of world governments at HRC52?

by Geneva Blog, Blog, URG Human Rights Council Reports

An independent analysis of the High-Level Segment of the Human Rights Council The High-Level Segment of the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council, held from February 27 to March 3 2023, saw the active participation of more than 130 world leaders, including three heads or deputy heads of State, eight heads or deputy heads of government, and 117 ministers …