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
Locked up and locked down: how persons in detention have been left behind during COVID-19
by Kerry Pearson, Universal Rights Group
While the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated global health disparities, the group that has arguably been impacted the most is persons in detention. As the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT), which supervises compliance with the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture[1], has pointed out, ‘persons deprived of their liberty comprise a particularly vulnerable group’. Nowhere has this been more prominent than during the pandemic. For one, hard-won progress in the reduction of COVID-19 cases in parts of the developed world has been a result of, inter alia, the quick rollout of vaccination campaigns as well as social distancing,…
previous URG Insights
Big Brother is watching: Spyware exports pose unprecedented threat to democratic leaders and human rights defenders
by Kerry Pearson, Universal Rights Group
‘Never has the human right to privacy been more important and more under siege,’ suggested the UN Special Rapporteur on Privacy, Joe Cannataci, when presenting his recent report on ‘artificial intelligence and privacy’ to the Human Rights Council’s 47th session (HRC47). His words seemed especially prescient this week as news broke that spyware developed by NSO Group, an Israeli surveillance company, called Pegasus, has been sold to some of the world’s most authoritarian governments to extract private data from citizens, including human rights defenders and elected officials, record calls and obtain personal messages, track internet searches, and monitor social media…
Generation Equality Forum – the Paris edition: More bold commitments, less empty promises
by Vany Cortés, Universal Rights Group Geneva
On 30 June, UN Secretary-General António Guterres opened the second session of the Generation Equality Forum (GEF) alongside UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and French President Emmanuel Macron. The GEF is a global gathering co-organised by UN Women and the Governments of France and Mexico in close cooperation with youth activists and civil society organisations from around the world. The GEF 2021 consisted of two sessions, which were aimed at reviewing progress made since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 26 years ago and addressing current challenges, including climate change and the impact of the…
President Biden commits to protecting the right to vote and revitalising American democracy
by Daniela Kyle, Universal Rights Group NYC
On 13 June, at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, President Joe Biden delivered a fiery speech on the importance of protecting voting rights in America. The president emphasised the need for free and fair elections in order to uphold American core values as well as to strengthen democracy domestically and abroad. The speech was directed both at the American people and at their congressional representatives, with many Republican office holders seeking to limit ballot access across the United States in what has been called a ‘21st Century Jim Crow assault’, while Democrats have largely pushed to restore and expand…
From apartheid South Africa to the Euro 2020 football championship: how sport and human rights make for natural teammates
by Mathis Limon
Competitive sports and the athletes who compete in them, can have an enormously positive impact on the enjoyment of human rights. The global reach and popularity of sports such as football, rugby, cricket, basketball, golf, athletics, and Formula 1, mean they can be used as a vehicle to either promote human rights (e.g., soccer training camps for disadvantaged children), or – in some cases – leveraged to whitewash human rights abuses (see the popularity of hosting Formula 1 races amongst the world’s autocracies). Moreover, the voices of elite athletes reach millions every day, and can – and often are –…
latest policy report
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…
previous policy reports
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…#The time is now - The case for universal recognition of the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
This new policy report tells the story of international discussions on human rights and environment, human rights and climate change, and the push for the right…OSLO+Digital – International support for the national implementation of UN human rights recommendations, including as a contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals during the COVID-19 pandemic
On 9 and 10 June 2020, the Permanent Missions of Denmark and The Netherlands to the UN in Geneva, in cooperation with the Universal Rights…URG next event
Towards a new accountability? The role of UN-mandated investigative mechanisms in securing accountability for human rights violations at the national, regional and international level’
By invitation only
The Universal Rights Group (URG), in cooperation with the Permanent Mission of the United States to the UN in Geneva, is organising a virtual policy dialogue focusing on 'Towards a new accountability? The role of UN-mandated investigative mechanisms in securing accountability for human rights violations at the national, regional and international level'. The policy dialogue ...future events
No planned events at the moment
past events
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29 Jul 2021
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05 Jul 2021
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01 Jul 2021
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30 Jun 2021
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24 Jun 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.
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