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 …

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 …

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 …

The UN General Assembly and the Strengthening of the United Nations Human Rights Treaty Body System

by Professor Michael O'Flaherty Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Human rights institutions and mechanisms BORRAR, Treaty Bodies

On 11th February, the 3rd Committee of the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on “strengthening and enhancing the effective functioning of the human rights treaty body system”. Although the matter still needs to be considered by those who control the purse strings in the General Assembly’s 5th Committee, the resolution’s adoption can be said to mark a defining …

General Assembly

The Emerging Struggle over the Council’s Prerogatives

by Marc Limon & Toby Lamarque Blog BORRAR, HRC BORRAR, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Human rights institutions and mechanisms BORRAR, UNGA borrar

It seemed innocuous enough. In December last year, the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee adopted a short resolution taking note, as per normal practice, of the annual report of the Human Rights Council, but deferring consideration of one particular Council resolution ‘in order to allow time for further consultations thereon’. This additional wording, which was subsequently endorsed by the General …

Mr Baudelaire Ndong Ella

The President of the Human Rights Council looks ahead to 2014

by H.E. Mr. Baudelaire Ndong Ella, President of the Human Rights Council and Permanent Representative of Gabon to the United Nations Office at Geneva Blog BORRAR, HRC BORRAR, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Human rights institutions and mechanisms BORRAR

2014 will be another important and eventful year for the Human Rights Council. Seen against the long history of human rights at the United Nations, the Council is still a young body, and yet it has achieved a remarkable amount in its relatively short life. Everyone who has contributed to the body’s work since 2006, whether representatives of States, NGOs, independent …

September Resolution Effects

UN Human Rights Resolutions: Do they matter?

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

United Nations resolutions, short documents designed to present the will of the international community, are a basic building block of the work of the human rights system. Each session of the Human Rights Council ends with state diplomats voting on a raft of new resolutions covering a variety of thematic or country-specific issues. In preparation for this moment, those same …

financing

Human rights financing: the UN’s little pillar

by Professor Michael O’Flaherty and Marc Limon Blog BORRAR, Human rights institutions and mechanisms BORRAR

In 2005, the then Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, presented plans for United Nations reform which elevated human rights to be one of the three pillars of the UN system – alongside economic and social development, and peace and security. This represented an acknowledgement of the centrality of human rights to the work and ideals of the UN …

Strengthening policy through dialogue

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

So much depends on the Human Rights Council and the people who work there.As the world’s pre-eminent human rights body, the Council sits atop one of the three thematic pillars of the UN system. And yet talk to most diplomats, the people who draft and negotiate resolutions, vote on vital human rights questions, establish new treaties and new protection mechanisms, …