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The representative of @GermanyUN condemned all forms of religious intolerance stating that anti-semitism and xenophobia are attacks on the fundamental principles of democracy. #UNGA74 #ThirdCommittee #HumanRights pic.twitter.com/ZERwkVQyAP
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latest policy report
October 2019
Eight years of the Istanbul process on combatting religions intolerance: Taking stock
The main intergovernmental policy framework for combatting religious intolerance, stigmatisation, discrimination, incitement to violence and violence against persons based on religion or belief is set…
previous policy reports
The Inside Track NY
The ‘Inside Track NY’ provides concise information and political insights on the upcoming session of the Third Committee of the General Assembly (GA). It is…Towards 2026 - Perspectives on the future of the Human Rights Council (Glion VI)
The sixth Glion Human Rights Dialogue (Glion VI), organised by Switzerland and the Universal Rights Group (URG), in partnership with the Permanent Missions of Botswana,…URG Insights
2019 Human Rights Council elections: good news overshadowed by complacency and short-termism
by Marc Limon, Executive Director of the Universal Rights Group
Yesterday’s elections to the Human Rights Council for the three-year membership term (2020-2022) brought some good news, but also served to demonstrate – again – the complacency and short-termism that characterises most States’ approach to these important polls. First, the good news. Overall, the elections strengthened the composition of the Human Rights Council. In the Asia-Pacific Group (APG), for example, Indonesia, Japan, Korea and the Marshall Islands all had strong candidatures and, broadly speaking, can be expected to take principled positions on both thematic and country-specific Council initiatives (though Indonesia usually abstains on country-specific texts). For its part, Marshall Islands…
previous URG Insights
Building a ‘Culture of Prevention’ in ASEAN
by Geneva, Yang Yue, Deputy Director and Associate Professor of Institute of Asian Studies, China Foreign Affairs University
More than two decades have passed since the concept of an ASEAN ‘Socio-Cultural Community’ (ASCC) emerged for the first time. The idea first appeared in proposals for a ‘Community of Caring Societies,’ adopted by ASEAN countries in their ‘Vision 2020’ (adopted in 1997). Six years later, ASEAN proposed to build an ASCC in its ‘Declaration of ASEAN Concord II’ (Bali Concord II) and an ‘ASCC Plan of Action’ was launched in 2004. In 2009, an ‘ASCC Blueprint (2009-2015)’ was unveiled to map out a people-centered and socially-responsible ASEAN Community by forging a common identity and building a ‘caring and sharing’…
The Amazon fires: the burning of rights
by URG LAC Team
On 24th September, the President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, delivered a high-level speech during the general debate of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly (GA). In it, he claimed that his Government is firmly committed to environmental protection and conservation, as well as to sustainable development more broadly. Yet, in the same speech, he questioned claims about the severity of the recent fires in the Amazon rainforest, as well as the relevance of those fires for humanity – do forest fires in Brazil really matter for the international community or for the ‘Peoples’ of the United Nations? His…
How can yourHRC.org help voting States navigate the upcoming Human Rights Council elections?
by Grace Kennedy, Universal Rights Group NYC
When it was established in 2006, the Human Rights Council (Council) was given the mandate to ‘promote universal respect for the protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all.’ In order to assist the Council in realising this mandate, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Universal Rights Group (URG) launched yourHRC.org, an innovative online tool designed to contribute to international efforts to strengthen the visibility, relevance, credibility and impact of the Council. This includes the Council’s membership, which is determined through elections that take place every fall at the UN General Assembly in New York. The…
Rethinking Africa´s role at the Human Rights Council
by Eduard Jordaan, Research Fellow, Rhodes University
In UN human rights forums, African States have a reputation for voting as a bloc, obstructing human rights, and defending the sovereignty of developing countries. Indeed, in 2011, Bertrand Ramcharan, a respected human rights scholar and a former acting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, complained that the African and Asian Groups, which together occupy 26 of the Human Rights Council’s 47 seats, had been banding together to prevent the Council from discussing and criticising a range of human rights violations.[1] A recent report, written in the Department of Political and International Studies at Rhodes University and published by the…
URG next event
Supporting environmental and land rights defenders: Sharing initiatives and best practices
Public event
Environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs) are individuals and groups who 'strive to protect and promote human rights relating to the environment.'[1] They come from many different backgrounds and work in different ways. Some are lawyers or journalists, but many are 'people living in remote villages, forests or mountains, who may not even be aware that ...future events
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past events
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14 Oct 2019
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14 Oct 2019
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10 Oct 2019
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23 Sep 2019
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13 Sep 2019