On 17thApril the Universal Rights Group (URG) was granted special consultative status by the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Consultative status provides NGOs with access to UN bodies that are open to NGOs, including ECOSOC and the Human Rights Council, and the various UN human rights mechanisms. Commenting on the news, URG Executive Director Marc Limon said: ‘It has …
L’interdépendance entre le changement climatique et les droits de l’homme est désormais établie. L’idée que le premier engendre des violations de ces derniers, et qu’à l’inverse, les droits humains peuvent renforcer l’élaboration des politiques internationales sur le climat (notamment en portant une plus grande attention sur les besoins des plus vulnérables) est désormais communément acceptée. Pourtant, cela n’a pas toujours …
Cet article est également disponible en français . The idea that climate change undermines and may contribute to the violation of human rights, and that human rights obligations and principles can guide improved international and national climate change policy by focusing attention on the needs of the most vulnerable, is now well established. Yet it was not always so. Back in …
On 23 March 2018, the Human Rights Council concluded its 37th regular session , during which it addressed a wide range of human rights issues and heard 95 reports of human rights experts addressing 35 thematic and 50 country-specific situations. Among the 42 adopted resolutions , the Council adopted two complementary texts aimed at mainstreaming human rights in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable …
A review of the 37th session of the UN Human Rights Council The 37th session of the UN Human Rights Council (read URG’s report on the session here ), held from the end of February to late March, was, in many ways, like any other session of the Council. The failure of States to agree on modest but important efficiency proposals in …
Resumen rápido: El 37 ° período ordinario de sesiones del Consejo de Derechos Humanos ( HRC37 ) se celebró del lunes 26 de febrero al viernes 23 de marzo de 2018. El 7 de marzo, el Alto Comisionado de las Naciones Unidas para los Derechos Humanos, S.E. El Sr. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein presentó su informe anual sobre la situación mundial de los …
As the Human Rights Council enters its teenage years, the Council’s ‘prevention mandate’—i.e., its responsibility to ‘contribute, through dialogue and cooperation, towards the prevention of human rights violations and [to] respond promptly to human rights emergencies’ [1] —has become one of the hot topics of discussion. Operationalising the prevention part of the Council’s mandate was the central theme of the last …
Quick summary: The 37th regular session of the Human Rights Council ( HRC37 ) was held from Monday 26th February to Friday 23rd March 2018. On 7th March, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, H.E. Mr Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, presented his annual report on the global human rights situation. A number of dignitaries delivered statements during the session’s high-level segment, including, inter alia, H.E. Mr …
Civil society calls for a more transparent, inclusive, meritocratic and engaging selection process Later this year the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, is due to appoint a new High Commissioner for Human Rights – the UN’s most senior human rights official. This is a vital moment for the Secretary-General, for the UN and its human rights pillar, and most of all …
A response to David Petrasek’s article in OpenGlobaRights entitled ‘ Another one bites the dust ’ (8 February 2018) and Marc Limon’s article in URG Insights entitled ‘ Is being the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights an impossible job? ‘ (14 February 2018). David Petrasek’s thoughtful analysis on 12 February and Marc Limon’s equally thoughtful response on 14 February provide the basis for an important inclusive discussion about the selection of the next High Commissioner for Human Rights …
