Wednesday Exchange 1

Ahead of the Council’s 59th session in June (during which the core group on new and emerging digital technologies and human rights is expected to table the next iteration of its resolutions), on 4 June the Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates, in partnership with the Universal Rights Group (URG), will convene an ‘Wednesday Exchange’ informal policy dialogue to consider how the Human Rights Council, and the wider UN human rights system, can best contribute to realising the commitment of UN member States, as set out in the Global Digital Compact, to build an ‘inclusive, open, safe and secure digital space that respects, protects and promotes human rights’?

Key questions for consideration:

1. What should be the next steps taken by the Council to support States, especially developing States, to realise their commitment to ensure that ‘the development and implementation of national legislation relevant to digital technologies is compliant with obligations under international law, including international human rights law’?
2. What should be the next steps taken by the Council to help realise the Global Digital Compact’s related call for ’digital technology companies and developers to respect international human rights and principles, including through the application of human rights due diligence and impact assessments throughout the technology life cycle’?
3. In that regard, what steps can the Council and the wider UN human rights system take to respond to the key normative challenge identified in OHCHR’s mapping report: to elaborate a more unified and accessible human rights guidance framework for governments and the private sector?
4. What steps can the Council and the wider UN human rights system take, including through OHCHR’s advisory service on human rights in the digital space, to help States, including developing States, translate such human rights normative guidance into improved national regulatory frameworks for digital technologies, including AI, and to help digital technology companies and developers fulfil their responsibility to respect international human rights and principles throughout the technology life cycle (e.g., through strengthened technical assistance and capacity-building support)?
5. How to strengthen UN system-wide coherence in order to promote a human rights-based approach to the development and regulation of new and emerging digital technologies, including AI?
6. What next steps should the Council and the wider UN human rights system take to support the achievement of the Global Digital Compact’s objective to ‘close all digital divides and accelerate progress across the Sustainable Development Goals’?