Scotland taking a child rights based approach further than ever

by Dragan Nastic, Strategic Lead - UNCRC, UNICEF UK Blog BORRAR, Blog BORRAR, By invitation, By invitation BORRAR, Human rights implementation and impact, Implementation BORRAR, In focus: domestic implementation of universal norms BORRAR, Uncategorized BORRAR

On 2 September: “The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill” was tabled in the Scottish Parliament to incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into Scots law. This is a significant moment in realising a widely shared vision of ensuring all children and young people growing up in Scotland have …

Putting people at the heart of the human rights treaty body system

by Ashley Bowe, Senior Human Rights Advisor, SPC RRRT and Joshua Cooper, Lecturer, University of Hawai’i, National Universal Periodic Review Task Force Co-Chair, US Human Rights Network Blog BORRAR, Blog BORRAR, By invitation, By invitation BORRAR, Human rights implementation and impact, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Human rights institutions and mechanisms BORRAR, Implementation BORRAR, Treaty Bodies, Universal Periodic Review BORRAR

Samoa held a ground-breaking treaty body session on child rights, evidencing the benefits of extending these sessions beyond Geneva. Calls for treaty body committees to undertake their sessions  on the ground have been made for decades. The first ever such session recently took place in the Pacific, providing empirical evidence of the significant opportunities and slight obstacles of this practice. The genesis of this session can be traced back …

Introducing ‘The Pacific Principles of Practice’ for effective national implementation

by Marc Limon, Executive Director of the Universal Rights Group Beyond the Council BORRAR, Beyond the Council BORRAR, Blog BORRAR, Blog BORRAR, Human rights implementation and impact, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Implementation BORRAR, In focus: domestic implementation of universal norms BORRAR

On 3 July a Human Rights Council side event was held at the Australian Mission in Geneva. Except for the fact that it was a COVID-era ‘hybrid’ side event, held simultaneously offline and online, at a superficial-level the side event was much like any other. Yet dig a little below the surface and the event was extraordinary – or rather, it marked …

Sudan outlaws Female Genital Mutilation: what does it mean for women’s rights in the country?

by Tiago Medeiros Delgado, Universal Rights Group Beyond the Council BORRAR, Beyond the Council BORRAR, Blog BORRAR, Blog BORRAR, Human rights implementation and impact, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Implementation BORRAR, In focus: domestic implementation of universal norms BORRAR, Religion, Religion-based reservations BORRAR, SDGs borrar, Thematic human rights issues

In a significant move for women’s rights in Sudan and the wider region, the country’s transitional government has outlawed the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). The amendment to the criminal code that makes ‘whoever removed, mutilated the female genitalia by cutting, mutilating or modifying any natural part of it leading to the full or partial loss of its functions’ punishable …

Is the world really ‘backsliding’ on human rights, and is it getting worse with the Covid-19 pandemic?

by the URG team Blog BORRAR, Blog BORRAR, Human rights implementation and impact, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Implementation BORRAR, In focus: domestic implementation of universal norms BORRAR, Special Procedures, Treaty Bodies, Universal Periodic Review

Even before the outbreak of the current COVID-19 pandemic, commentary on the worldwide human rights situation was characterised, to a large degree, by negative assertions of an unfolding human rights crisis. Powered by influential voices at the UN, as well as by civil society and the media, the general public narrative was often one of backsliding in the world’s major …

Inequality a prominent concern for UN human rights monitors

by Steven L. B. Jensen, Senior Researcher at the Danish Institute for Human Rights Blog BORRAR, Blog BORRAR, By invitation, By invitation BORRAR, Human rights implementation and impact, Implementation BORRAR, Inequality and social rights, Social rights BORRAR, Thematic human rights issues

UN human rights bodies are highlighting inequality when making recommendations to states – showing that this issue should be seen and acted on as a central human rights concern. Do human rights have anything to say about material inequality? The question is worth asking, especially in light of recent critiques. In his 2018 book Not Enough – Human Rights in an Unequal World, historian Samuel Moyn argued that “… …

Desigualdad es una preocupación importante para los observadores de derechos humanos de la ONU

by Steven L. B. Jensen, Senior Researcher at the Danish Institute for Human Rights Blog INVALID 6, Blog INVALID 7, By invitation, By invitation BORRAR, Human rights implementation and impact, Implementation BORRAR, Inequality and social rights, Social rights BORRAR, Thematic human rights issues

Los organismos de derechos humanos de la ONU están enfatizando la desigualdad al hacer recomendaciones a los Estados, mostrando que la consideración y acción sobre el tema debe ser una preocupación central de los derechos humanos. ¿Los derechos humanos tienen algo que decir sobre la desigualdad material? Vale la pena hacer la pregunta, especialmente a la luz de críticas recientes. …

Glion VI: Towards 2026 – Perspectives on the future of the Human Rights Council

by the URG team Glion human rights dialogue INVALID, International human rights institutions, mechanisms and processes BORRAR, Policy reports

Glion VI: Towards 2026 – Perspectives on the future of the Human Rights Council

The sixth Glion Human Rights Dialogue (Glion VI), organised by Switzerland and the Universal Rights Group (URG), in partnership with the Permanent Missions of Botswana, Fiji, Iceland, Mexico and Thailand, was held on 27-28 May 2019 and considered the topic: ‘Towards 2026 – Perspectives on the future of the Human Rights Council.’ In particular the Glion VI retreat and its four preparatory policy dialogues …

Human rights mechanisms proving effective SDGs monitor.

UN human rights mechanisms proving effective SDGs monitor

by Steven L. B. Jensen, Researcher at the Danish Institute for Human Rights Accountability, Blog BORRAR, Blog BORRAR, By invitation, By invitation BORRAR, Human rights implementation and impact, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Implementation BORRAR, Prevention, Prevention, accountability and justice BORRAR, SDGs borrar

The SDGs are mostly aligned with human rights objectives — to emphasise this, the UN human rights mechanisms are showing a willingness to hold states accountable to their SDG commitments. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are renewing the debate on the relationship between human rights and development. In 2005, Philip Alston famously described the relationship between the Millennium Development Goals …

The global human rights implementation agenda: the role of national parliaments

by Universal Rights Group and the Commonwealth Secretariat Human rights implementation and impact, Policy reports

The global human rights implementation agenda: the role of national parliaments

This new policy brief, published by the URG and the Commonwealth secretariat, is the second in a new series of URG publications exploring how universal human rights standards are translated, through the actions of governments, parliaments, national human rights institutions and NGOs, in some cases with the support of development partners , into on-the-ground improvements in the enjoyment of human rights. This second report explores …