A call for measurable human rights targets in the Post-2015 Development Agenda

by Subhas Gujadhur Blog BORRAR, Contemporary and emerging human rights issues BORRAR, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, SDGs borrar

        “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”         – Albert Einstein   This week UN Member States will consider the “zero draft” of goals and targets entitled ‘Introduction and Proposed Goals and Targets on Sustainable Development for the Post 2015 Development Agenda” which has been …

Living up to our own standards?

by H.E. Ambassador Hanns Heinrich Schumacher, Permanent Representative of the Federal Republic of Germany Blog BORRAR, HRC BORRAR, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Human rights institutions and mechanisms BORRAR

The United Nations Human Rights Council emerged in response to the failures of the former Commission on Human Rights to effectively implement the rich normative framework of human rights standards that most members of the international community have committed themselves to. Our human rights architecture in 2014 appears to be both solid and comprehensive: The Universal Declaration on Human Rights …

The environment is the new battleground for human rights – we must protect those on the frontline

by Oliver Courtney Blog BORRAR, By invitation, By invitation BORRAR, Contemporary and emerging human rights issues BORRAR, EHRD BORRAR, Thematic human rights issues

Imagine waking up one morning to be told by a man from the government that new laws mean the street your family has lived on for generations is being sold to developers. Your land is to be ‘converted’ into flats in the name of national economic development; bulldozers will soon be moving in to flatten your house and rip up …

Human rights norms: it’s the implementation, stupid

by Marc Limon, Executive Director of the Universal Rights Group Blog BORRAR, Human rights implementation and impact, Human rights institutions and mechanisms BORRAR, Implementation BORRAR

The development of international human rights norms has been one of the great success stories of the UN. The first major achievement was the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the General Assembly on 10 December 1948 – “a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations”. Building on this first step, the UN went …

Special Procedures mandate-holders: the new intake

by the URG team Blog BORRAR, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Human rights institutions and mechanisms BORRAR, Special Procedures

After weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations, the member states of the Human Rights Council yesterday moved to appoint 17 new Special Procedure mandate-holders. This was a critical moment for the Special Procedure mechanism, the ‘jewel in the crown’ of the international human rights system, because the mechanism’s effectiveness is heavily reliant on the quality, expertise and reputation of those individuals who …

The emerging law of environmental human rights is clearer than ever before

by Professor John Knox, Independent Expert on human rights and the environment Blog BORRAR, By invitation, By invitation BORRAR, Contemporary and emerging human rights issues BORRAR

On the last day of its 25th session in March 2014, the Human Rights Council adopted by consensus a historic resolution on human rights and the environment. For the first time, the Council explicitly recognised that ‘human rights law sets out certain obligations on states which are relevant to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment.’ This …

UN General Assembly Concludes its Review of the Human Rights Treaty Bodies

by Christen Broecker Blog BORRAR, By invitation, By invitation BORRAR, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Human rights institutions and mechanisms BORRAR, Treaty Bodies

The United Nations General Assembly today (9th April) completed a two-year review of a key part of the UN’s human rights architecture: the human rights treaty bodies. The review occurred in the context of and built on ideas generated from a broader effort by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to ‘strengthen’ the treaty bodies. The outcome of the …

LDC-SIDS Trust Fund is key to promoting universalism

by Subhas Gujadhur Blog BORRAR, HRC BORRAR, Human rights institutions and mechanisms

On 27th March 2014, H.E. Ambassador Omar Hilale Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United Nations delivered a cross regional statement on the operationalisation of Human Rights Council resolution 19/26 on ‘The Voluntary Technical Assistance Trust Fund to support the participation of Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States in the work of the Human Rights …

URG welcomes cross-regional statement on strengthening effectiveness of Human Rights Council resolutions

by the URG team Blog BORRAR, Contemporary and emerging human rights issues BORRAR, HRC BORRAR, Human rights institutions and mechanisms

Improving the effectiveness of Human Rights Council resolutions is one of the Universal Rights Group’s current projects, and in that regard we are pleased to have contributed, through our empirical and qualitative research, policy dialogues, and side events with delegations from all regions and political groups, to the delivery of the following consensus based cross-regional statement led by Norway and …

Building the ‘Cooperative Council’: Recalling the Universal Spirit of 1946-48

by Professor Susan Waltz Blog BORRAR, HRC BORRAR, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Human rights institutions and mechanisms BORRAR

Many observers are expecting the 25th session of the Human Rights Council, which opened this week, to be a particularly bumpy ride. The combination of latent ill-feeling leftover from the General Assembly’s 2013 decision to only partially accept the Council’s annual report, significant changes to the Council’s composition, and the presence of a number of difficult and sensitive issues on …