Oslo+1 meeting on international support for the national implementation of international human rights obligations and recommendations

On 10th May the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden and SIDA, in cooperation with the Universal Rights Group will organise an informal meeting of development partners on how international cooperation can support national implementation of international human rights obligations and commitments.

This will be the second informal meeting on the subject, following the inaugural meeting held in Oslo, Norway, in April 2018. This second meeting will provide an opportunity to consider new developments since Oslo, and to once again share good practices between development actors on how to support the domestic implementation of States’ international human rights obligations and commitments, how to measure progress in that regard, and how to ensure that human rights progress also contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable development.

Through its human rights ‘implementation mechanisms,’ particularly the Treaty Bodies, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and Special Procedures, the UN regularly assesses the degree to which States are fulfilling their human rights obligations and commitments, and provides recommendations to help move governments towards improved compliance. Taken together, these UN human rights recommendations provide an important contribution to a ‘blueprint’ for human rights, democracy and rule of law reform (including to combat corruption), based on the State’s own obligations and commitments.

Across governments, bilateral development agencies, multilateral development partners, NGOs, national human rights institutions (NHRIs) and UN experts, there is a growing interest in the way countries, especially developing countries, translate these recommendations into improved national laws, policies and practices, as well as the challenges they face and how the international community can help them meet those challenges.

The meeting aims to provide a platform for development partners and relevant international agencies to share information on the latest developments in this area and strategise on how to move this agenda forward.

The concept note of the meeting is available here.