One relative constant over the twenty-year history of the Human Rights Council has been that the body’s mandate to ‘address situations of violations of human rights, including gross and systematic violations’ (paragraph 3 of GA resolution 60/251) has largely been implemented in one direction only. Developed or Western States have sought to realise the mandate and developing countries, especially geopolitical …
On 4 February, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the body is at risk of ‘imminent financial collapse’ due to unpaid fees and a budget rule that forces it to return unspent funds. Recent years have also seen major cuts to voluntary funding to UN agencies on the part of a wide range of (especially developed) States. These unpaid fees …
General Assembly adopts resolution guiding the review and rationalisation of mandates across the UN system On 31 March, the General Assembly adopted a resolution on ‘Mandate creation, implementation, and review for an efficient and effective United Nations,’ a move the Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres called ‘historic’ and a ‘major step’ in translating ‘the ambition of the UN80 Initiative into concrete, practical action.’ …
Quick summary The 61st regular session of the Human Rights Council (HRC61) was held from Monday, 23 February to Tuesday 31 March 2026. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk delivered a global update to the Human Rights Council on 27 February 2026. Six panel debates were held during the session. More than 80 reports under the Council’s various …
Recent cycles of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) have increasingly prioritised the implementation of UPR recommendations. However, Human Rights Council (HRC) Item 6 adoptions remain largely procedural, with States under review (SuRs), UN entities, and CSOs mostly focusing on whether recommendations are supported or not. The 20th anniversary of the HRC in 2026 presents an opportunity to use the 60-minute …
Introduction On 23 January 2026, the Human Rights Council convened its 39th Special Session to address the deteriorating human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The session was requested via an official letter dated 19 January 2026, signed by Iceland together with Germany, North Macedonia, the Republic of Moldova, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. …
A response to Alice Edwards’ proposal Alice Edwards’ reflection and proposal come at a key moment, as the international human rights movement is struggling to come to terms with an unprecedented funding crisis, which is shaking its very foundations. And for all the damage that’s been caused to date, including the significant cuts to the 2026 UN regular budget, we still know that …
Alice Edwards, United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture, offers her insights on evolving conversations around rationalising the Special Procedures system. For decades, the United Nations’ system of independent human rights experts – known as the ‘Special Procedures’ – has been one of its greatest innovations for identifying abuses, developing legal standards, and giving victims a voice when domestic systems fail. …
On 8 October, the Human Rights Council adopted (by consensus) resolution 60/27 on ‘Promoting international cooperation to support national mechanisms for implementation, reporting, and follow-up’ (NMIRFs) , presented by Paraguay and Brazil. In addition to once again underscoring the enormous potential of NMIRFs to help States ‘integrate their obligations and commitments under international human rights law into their national legislation and public policies,’ and thus – by extension – help them better implement the 2030 Agenda …
The UN enters its eightieth year in crisis mode. This is in part financial, with delays to the payment of regular budget dues by some large member States, as well as cuts to extrabudgetary contributions by many others (as of 9 October 2025, member States collectively owe around $1,87 billion in mandatory contributions). It is also political, with US President Donald …
