The Human Rights Council’s mandate to respond to human rights violations, including gross and systematic violations – as set down in operative paragraph 3 of GA resolution 60/251 – is well known. Less well known, but equally important, is the Council’s mandate to prevent such violations from happening in the first place and to respond promptly to emerging crises. The Council is mandated to ‘respond promptly to human rights emergencies’ and to contribute to prevention. Notwithstanding this clear and explicit mandate, and over fifteen years after the Council’s establishment, member States are yet to put in place an explicit and coherent policy framework (e.g. a strategy, dedicated processes, tailored mechanisms) to fulfil the body’s prevention mandate.
Since 2017, URG is implementing a project that has the broader objective of promoting the operationalisation of the Human Rights Council’s prevention mandate.
