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TRANSFORMING UNIVERSAL RIGHTS INTO LOCAL REALITY

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Transforming universal norms into local reality

Oslo+ process

In 2015 the Oslo+ process grew out of a growing interest among certain States (initially, Norway, Sweden, and Finland) in strengthening – both qualitatively and quantitively – the human rights based approach (HRBA), based on the 2003 UN Common Understanding on HRBA.

The human rights-based approach is a conceptual framework to guide the process of sustainable development that is normatively based on international human rights standards and principles and operationally directed to promoting and protecting human rights. It seeks to identify and analyse inequalities, which lie at the heart of development problems, and address discriminatory practices, unequal access to resources and services, and unjust distributions of power, which impede development progress and often result in groups of people being left behind.

The initial meeting of the series (the inaugural Oslo meeting) was hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway in Oslo in 2018 with the support of the Universal Rights Group. Over the years, the Oslo+ meetings have been hosted by various key stakeholders in different cities: the Oslo+1 meeting, organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden and the Swedish Agency for International Development Cooperation in May 2019; the Oslo+ digital meeting co-organised by the Permanent Missions of Denmark and The Netherlands to the UN in Geneva in the summer of 2020; the Oslo+3 meeting convened by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (Peace and Human Rights Division) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in June 2022; and the Oslo+4 meeting co-organised by the European Commission’s HRBA expert group, with the support of the Belgium Presidency and the United Kingdom representation in Brussels in May 2024.

Following each of the Oslo meetings, URG publishes a short report summarising the discussions and outcomes.

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