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URG Insights
Prevention first and foremost: speaking at the UN General Assembly, the High Commissioner and HRC President highlight cross-cutting human rights work
by Danica Damplo, Universal Rights Group NYC
As part of the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the President of the Human Rights Council (Council) gave statements to the Third Committee at UN Headquarters in New York City and engaged in an interactive dialogue with member States. These interactions provided an opportunity for a discussion of cross-cutting human rights work and priorities, as well as ideas for cooperation between Geneva and New York. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms Michelle Bachelet On 15 October, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms Michelle Bachelet, addressed the Third Committee and then responded to…
previous URG Insights
‘Unfriending’ online hate: The contribution of the World Jewish Congress
by Leon Saltiel, WJC’s Representative in Geneva and Project Manager on Countering Antisemitism, Yfat Barak-Cheney, WJC’s Director of International Affairs
There is little doubt that one of the modern world’s principal political challenges is the rise of hate speech, particularly in the cyber arena. Such hateful and intolerant expression, especially when widely circulated via the internet, promotes populism, extremism and radicalisation and deplorably leads to violence and murderous attacks. This incitement tears societies apart, threatens democracy and the rule of law. No population group is immune to such hatred. In recent years, the combination of hate speech and the power and reach of online media platforms as well as social media, have created a toxic mix which the international community…
Given UN failings in Myanmar, where is Human Rights up Front?
by Jennifer Norris, Lawyer and human rights advocate
What happened to the UN’s Human Rights up Front initiative? This is a question many human rights advocates have asked since UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres took office in 2016. A recent report on the UN’s failings in Myanmar during the atrocities committed against the Rohingya in 2017 has put this question in stark relief. The independent review, conducted by Gert Rosenthal, a Guatemalan diplomat with expertise on the UN and conflict prevention, concluded that the UN could have done more to avoid or mitigate the horrific events in Myanmar. Rosenthal’s report offers a sobering lesson on how the organisation has…
Beauty and strength lie in diversity
by Marghoob Saleem Butt, Executive Director of the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission of the OIC
Does respecting universal human rights mean that everyone must accept and adopt unified sociocultural values and practices? Clearly the answer is no. Yet at international level we see regular efforts to malign specific countries or societies based on their religious and cultural backgrounds. Despite a general agreement among scholars that present-day human rights are the common heritage of all civilisations, we continue to witness policies and actions in some quarters that tend to reject diversity and impose one set of rules and ideas on the rest of the world. These actions are more pronounced at multilateral forums, where certain countries…
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…
latest policy report
November 2019
OSLO+1 - International support for the national implementation of UN human rights recommendations, including as a contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals
On 10 May 2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden and the Swedish Agency for International Development Cooperation (Sida), in cooperation with the Universal…
previous policy reports
Policy or aspiration: shedding light on the current status of the UN's Human Rights Up Front initiative
The question of ‘what happened to Human Rights up Front’ is an oft repeated refrain in meetings with New York civil society. However, little consistent,…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…URG next event
Launch of yourHRC.org report: The Human Rights Council in 2019
By invitation only
On Thursday 5th December, the Permanent Mission of Norway will host a Human Rights end-of-year reception to look back on the work, achievements and challenges of the Council in the past year. The reception, organised in cooperation with the Universal Rights Group (URG), will also mark the launch of the third yourHRC.org end-of-year report: ‘The Human ...future events
No planned events at the moment
past events
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18 Nov 2019
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29 Oct 2019
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23 Oct 2019
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22 Oct 2019
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14 Oct 2019
