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URG Insights

27 March urgent debate on killing of schoolchildren in Iran ‘reflective of major power shifts at the Human Rights Council’

by the URG team

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 opponents of the West, have – almost always - been its object. While there have been some exceptions to this rule, such as item 4 resolutions on Russia, and item 7 resolutions on Israel, it has broadly held since the…

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Are the UN human rights pillar’s financial investments consistent with…

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…

‘It is time for States and other actors at the…

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…

Report on the 61st session of the Human Rights Council

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…

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May 2026

Ensuring Dignity and Realising Rights: Measuring the Impact of the United Nations Human Rights System on the Enjoyment of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Since its establishment eight decades ago, the United Nations has played a central role in raising awareness about and advancing the rights of persons with…

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Glion XI: Beijing at 30

The eleventh Glion Human Rights Dialogue (Glion XI), organised by the Universal Rights Group (URG) in partnership with UN Women, Morocco's Inter-Ministerial Delegation for Human…

OSLO+5 – Human rights-based approach to development and accelerating progress towards gender equality and women’s and girls’ rights

On 29-30 September 2025, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, supported by the Universal Rights Group, and the Oslo+ Steering Group (consisting of Norway,…

Confronting Inequality and Leaving No-One Behind: Turning the United Nations' Human Rights System into the International System's 'Equality Engine'

Leave no one behind (LNOB) is the central, transformative promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It represents…

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