Report on the 29th Session of the Human Rights Council

by the URG team Human Rights Council reports, Regular session

Quick summary The Human Rights Council held its first enhanced dialogue on the issue of human rights situation of migrants. 4 panel discussions were held during the session. 59 reports under the various items on the Council’s agenda were considered. The outcomes of the UPR working group reports of the following 14 countries were adopted: Armenia, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, …

International human rights community urges heightened ambition at COP21

by the URG team Climate, Thematic human rights issues

URG-CVF-Costa Rica-UN Special Procedures event on human rights and climate change in conjunction with UNFCCC SB42 in Bonn Wednesday 10th June 2015, Geneva On 10th June the Universal Rights Group, together with the Climate Vulnerable Forum and the Government of Costa Rica organised an event to present and build on a Joint Statement (Friday 5 June) by UN Special Procedures …

The road to Istanbul passes through Rabat

by Marc Limon, Executive Director of the Universal Rights Group and the URG team Thematic human rights issues

On 3rd-4th June, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) hosted, in Jeddah, a fifth round of the Istanbul Process, a series of intergovernmental meetings launched in 2011 by the former OIC Secretary-General, Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, and former US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton. The Istanbul Process was put in place to promote and guide the implementation of Human Rights Council resolution 16/18 on combatting religious intolerance and discrimination. The resolution, adopted …

Breaking the accountability taboo in the post-2015 negotiations

by Kate Donald and the URG team Human rights institutions and mechanisms

Late last month at the UN, representatives of all member states gathered to discuss how they would review and monitor progress once implementation of the post-2015 sustainable development agenda begins. For the members of the  Post-2015 Human Rights Caucus , pursuing accountability for post-2015 commitments is a priority, given its centrality to human rights practice and the stark  failure to promote accountability in the context of the MDGs . Therefore members of the Caucus – and many …

URG welcomes advent of new informal Council briefings with High Commissioner

by the URG team Uncategorized BORRAR

Wednesday 27th May 2015, Geneva The Universal Rights Group (URG) today welcomed the holding of the first informal Human Rights Council briefing with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, a new work format discussed and developed through inclusive talks during the 2015 Glion Human Rights Dialogue . The informal Council briefings, organised in cooperation with and following a request by the UN High Commissioner …

African Commission on Human and People’s Rights grants Observer Status to the Universal Rights Group

by the URG team Uncategorized BORRAR

At its 56th Ordinary Session held in Banjul from 21st April to 7th May 2015, the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights granted Observer Status to the Universal Rights Group in accordance with the resolution on the Criteria for Granting and Enjoying Observer Status to NGOs Working in the Field of Human and People’s Rights. This decision as well as …

Connecting the pillars: Human Rights and the post-2015 agenda

by Naiara Costa and the URG team By invitation, Human rights institutions and mechanisms

If you follow the work of the United Nations (UN) you may have already discovered that 2015 seems to be the year for the ‘development’ pillar of the organisation. Three main agreements are expected to be adopted until the end of the year and the complexity of the negotiations are increased by the interconnectedness amongst them. The first agreement is …

Human rights focus can strengthen Paris climate deal

by Manuel González-Sanz, Marc Limon, Executive Director of the Universal Rights Group, Cecilia Rebong, Mary Robinson and the URG team Climate, Thematic human rights issues

Climate change was top of the agenda last month at the UN’s leading human rights body, writes Manuel González-Sanz, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica, Cecilia Rebong, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Philippines to the United Nations at Geneva, Mary Robinson, President of the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice, Marc Limon, Executive Director of Universal Rights Group. Following great efforts by a …

Islam, human rights and universality

by Prof. Dr. Mouez Khalfaoui and the URG team By invitation, Thematic human rights issues

Ever since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights came into effect in 1948, the relationship between human rights and Islam has constituted a topic of heated debate. As of today, politicians, NGO workers, academics and journalists continue to discuss the compatibility of human rights and Islamic legal systems, traditions, and cultures. Geographically speaking, these debates encompass both Muslim countries as …

A Geneva Spring? Why civil society needs North-South solidarity

by Louise Arbour and the URG team By invitation, Thematic human rights issues

In the last decade, the international human rights framework has become addicted to norm-setting, devoting far too much effort to refining norms, tools and protocols, and not enough to their actual implementation. There have certainly been some important new normative initiatives, such as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. But now the challenge is that the international …