Video
The Prevention Council
3 February 2020
For the UN’s prevention agenda to work, it is vital to build a business case for placing human rights at its heart.
URG Insights
Report of the 33rd Special Session of the Human Rights Council on the grave human rights situation in Ethiopia
by the URG team
On Friday 17th December 2021, the Human Rights Council convened a Special Session to address ‘the grave human rights situation in Ethiopia'. The Special Session was requested via an official letter dated 13 December 2021 and signed by H.E Lotte Knudsen, Ambassador and Permanent Observer of the European Union Delegation to the United Nations Office in Geneva, as well as H.E Anita Pipan, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Slovenia to United Nations Office in Geneva. This letter, addressed to H.E. Nazhat Shameem Khan, President of the Human Rights Council, was officially supported by 17 member States[1] and 35 observer…
previous URG Insights
Human Rights Day: From recognition to action on the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment
by Dr Justin Pettit, Human Rights Adviser, Commonwealth Secretariat, Dr Shavana Haythornthwaite, Head, Human Rights Unit, Commonwealth Secretariat
This blog was first published on the Commonwealth website The critical state of the environment, the acceleration of climate change, the serious impacts of pollution and the increasing loss of biodiversity are undeniable. They jeopardise food security, weaken public health, exacerbate conflict and displacement, deepen inequalities, undermine development, threaten achievement of the SDGs, and impede economic growth – all whilst disproportionately affecting women and other vulnerable persons. They collectively pose an immediate threat to the human rights of every single one of us. Human rights crucial to the solution Crucially, human rights are also part of the solution to effectively…
Human Rights Day 2021: protect the right to be as well as the right to become
by Dr Bertrand G. Ramcharan
Today, 10 December, is Human Rights Day. It was on this day in 1948 that the UN proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations. What the Universal Declaration sought to do, seventy-three years ago, was to invite all governments to pursue human rights strategies of governance. That is to say, government policies and laws should take the precepts of the Universal Declaration as their basic starting point, and governments should be held accountable against those standards. Human Rights Day this year is being commemorated at a time when…
Raising the fight against corruption to the top of the international agenda: A proposal for a new Optional Protocol to the ICESCR
by Marc Limon, Executive Director of the Universal Rights Group
The collapse of democracy is Afghanistan, after 20 years and billions of dollars of international engagement; the collapse of democracy in Myanmar following February’s coup d’état and ouster of Aung San Suu Kyi; the collapse of democracy in Sudan following October’s coup d’état and the detention of the civilian government. What do each of these salutary tales of democratic roll-back and international human rights failure have in common? In a word: corruption. Corruption was the cause of the precipitate collapse of democratic government in Afghanistan and the fall of Kabul, and was the primary motivating factor of the army chiefs…
Making it real: Why members of the Human Rights Council should make use of their power to conduct ‘good offices’ missions
by Marc Limon, Executive Director of the Universal Rights Group
From 23-25 October, members of the Security Council carried out country missions to Mali and Niger, under the auspices of the Kenyan presidency of the body. In Mali, they met with members of the Transitional Government, including the Transitional President and Prime Minister, signatory armed groups, representatives of civil society, the Special Representative of the Secretary‑General for Mali, and representatives of the UN country team. Members of the Council used the mission to reiterate the body’s strong support for the mediation efforts of the Economic Community of West African States and the African Union, and urge authorities to complete the…
latest policy report
previous policy reports
Placing digital technology at the service of democracy and human rights (3D2)
From 16-17 November, a high-level meeting of State representatives, UN officials, technology company representatives, and civil society, took place in Montreux, Switzerland, as well as…Human rights in the digital age: Making digital technology work for human rights
The seventh Glion Human Rights Dialogue (Glion VII), organised by the Governments of Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and the Universal Rights Group (URG), in partnership with the…Building a coherent Human Rights Council-Security Council relationship - The prevention of human rights crises, violent conflict and atrocity crimes
In her first address to the United Nations General Assembly’s (UNGA) Third Committee as High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2018, Michelle Bachelet urged States…URG next event
Building Forward Better: Reaffirming the Sustainable Recovery Pledge and taking stock of commitments
Public event
The event will take place on the margins of the upcoming Fourth Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Human Rights Council on Human Rights and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The event is co-organised by the Danish Institute for Human Rights, the Permanent Mission of Denmark to the UN in Geneva and the Universal Rights Group. During the event, State ...future events
No planned events at the moment
past events
-
15 Dec 2021
-
15 Dec 2021
-
15 Dec 2021
-
08 Dec 2021
-
06 Dec 2021
The Istanbul Process is the dedicated mechanism for follow-up on the implementation of the action plan set out in Human Rights Council resolution 16/18 on combatting intolerance, negative stereotyping and stigmatisation of, and discrimination, incitement to violence and violence against, persons based on religion or belief.
> View the website
