On Friday 8 October 2021, member states of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (Council) moved to adopt two historic resolutions. With the first of these (Council resolution 48/13), presented by Costa Rica, Maldives, Morocco, Slovenia, and Switzerland (the core group on human rights and the environment), the Council recognised a new universal human right: the right to a …
This report reviews how the UN human rights system has taken up women’s rights, gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights and the degree to which these recommendations have been translated into action, with UNFPA’s support. Country examples demonstrate the impact of UNFPA’s strategic engagement with UN human rights mechanisms for advancing the rights and choices of women and girls.
This report examines this body of practice, namely the features and best practices associated with the global implementation of the right to a healthy environment.
The present policy brief provides thoughts on how the Council might strengthen the delivery of domestic capacity-building support in the future – how it might ‘reset and revitalize item 10.’
The report explores definitions of accountability, the complementarity between criminal and human rights accountability, victim-centred perspectives, as well as challenges and opportunities for securing greater accountability for human rights violations. It also addresses the implications of the emergence, development, and deployment of targeted human rights sanction regimes for international accountability efforts.
In January 2022, the Commonwealth Secretariat launched a survey of national frameworks for the implementation of international human rights obligations in Commonwealth member states. The primary objectives of the survey were to: a. Contribute to the body of knowledge, such as studies conducted by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and other organisations, on …
Pakistan’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva organized the 8th Istanbul Process (IP) virtually, on 16 February 2022. The meeting’s agenda was set on the theme “10th anniversary of Human Rights Council (HRC) Resolution 16/18: Looking Back and Moving Forward”. This meeting included three segments; (I) High-Level Inaugural Session, (II) Panel I: Ten years of Istanbul Process: Looking …
What were the main developments, achievements and flash-points at the Human Rights Council in 2022? What were the Council’s principle outputs and what kind of impact did the body and its mechanisms have on the on-the-ground enjoyment of human rights? Did members of the Council cooperate with the international human rights mechanisms, and with OHCHR, over the past twelve months? …
‘Technology is not neutral.’ This statement increasingly represents the consensus position of technologists, human rights campaigners, ethicists, and political scientists. According to this emerging consensus, technology itself can in fact be instilled with certain values –either in line with or contradictory to human rights norms. This simple conclusion is not merely descriptive, however, but also empowering. It empowers us –in …
In August-September 2021, the Universal Rights Group, in cooperation with the Permanent Mission of the United States to the UN Office in Geneva, organised a series of policy dialogues with a cross-regional group of over 150 experts, to seek conceptual clarity and analyse emerging trends and best practices in international efforts to secure ‘accountability’ for human rights violations. The first …
