What are the human rights priorities of world governments in 2023?

by Amalia Ordóñez Vahí, Research Fellow, URG, Lola Sanchez Arcos, Researcher, URG and Ana Botchoidze, Intern, Universal Rights Group Beyond the Council, Beyond the Council, Blog, Climate change, Contemporary and emerging human rights issues, General Assembly, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, SDGs, Thematic human rights issues, UNGA

Human rights analysis of high-level speeches during the general debate of the UN General Assembly Every autumn, leaders from around the world come together in New York for the UN General Assembly (GA) general debate. This gathering brings together Heads of State, Heads of Government, Foreign Affairs Ministers, and other dignitaries to address global issues and their impact on their …

What are the human rights priorities of world governments in 2022?

by the URG team Blog, Blog, Climate change, Hate speech, HRC, Human Rights Council, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, International human rights institutions, mechanisms and processes, SDGs, Special Procedures, Thematic human rights issues, UPR

An independent analysis of the High-Level Segment of the Human Rights Council The High-Level Segment of the 49th session of the Human Rights Council , held from February 28 to March 3 2022, saw the active participation of more than 120 world leaders, including six heads or deputy heads of State, five heads or deputy heads of Government, and 107 ministers or vice-ministers. In the statements delivered …

The state of democracy in Europe 2021: Overcoming the impact of the pandemic

by Nana Kalandadze, Programme Manager, Regional Europe Programme, International IDEA and Alexander Hudson, Democracy Assessment Specialist, International IDEA Blog, Blog, By invitation, By invitation, Democracy, In focus: democracy, Thematic human rights issues

Are European democracies in peril? How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected them? And is the prevailing sense of crisis justified? ‘The Global State of Democracy,’ International IDEA’s biennial report last released in November 2021, is a health-check of democracies across the globe (including a chapter on Europe), designed to provide both a current snapshot of vital democratic attributes, an analysis …

What are the world’s human rights priorities in 2021, and priorities to look out for in 2022?

by Courtney Halverson, URG NYC and the URG team Beyond the Council, Beyond the Council, Blog, Blog, Climate change, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, SDGs, Thematic human rights issues, UNGA

Human rights analysis of high-level speeches during the general debate of the UN General Assembly In the pre-pandemic world, each fall world leaders would descend upon New York City to speak at the General Debate of the UN General Assembly (UNGA). Last year, this tradition was disrupted (as so many others) by the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of migrating to Turtle …

Locked up and locked down: how persons in detention have been left behind during COVID-19

by Kerry Pearson, Universal Rights Group Blog, Blog, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Special Procedures

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 …

Rethinking the right to education

by Federico Sarchiapone, URG Geneva Blog, Blog, Contemporary and emerging human rights issues

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only heralded a public health and economic crisis, but also triggered an educational emergency. Data collected by UNESCO shows that around the globe students lost on average two-thirds of their academic year as governments resorted to mandatory school closures in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus. However, this figure masks great disparities among …

The end of the COVID-19 pandemic may finally be in sight, but is everyone included?

by Rebecca Lily Shepard, Universal Rights Group Geneva Blog, Blog, Contemporary and emerging human rights issues, Uncategorized

Addressing the opening of the 74th World Health Assembly in Geneva on Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that ‘unless we act now, we face a situation in which rich countries vaccinate the majority of their people and open their economies, while the virus continues to cause deep suffering by circling and mutating in the poorest countries.’ This sharp criticism of …

What are the human rights priorities of world governments in 2021?

by the URG team Blog, Blog, Climate change, Climate crisis, Democracy, Gender equality, HRC, Human Rights Council, Human rights implementation and impact, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, In focus: democracy, Inequality, International human rights institutions, mechanisms and processes, Thematic human rights issues

An independent analysis of the High-Level Segment of the Human Rights Council The High-Level Segment of the 46th session of the Human Rights Council , held from February 22 to 24 2021, saw the active participation of more than 130 world leaders, including presidents, prime ministers, ministers, and heads of international organisations. In the statements they delivered to the Council, they addressed both domestic human rights concerns, …

Inequitable access to Covid-19 vaccines threatens the human rights of millions and must be addressed

by Tess Kidney Bishop, Universal Rights Group NYC Blog, Blog, Contemporary and emerging human rights issues, Inequality, Thematic human rights issues, Universal Rights Group NYC

Covid-19 has shone a stark light onto inequalities between countries. So far, high-income countries have recorded the most cases and deaths, but the economic impact of Covid-19 has been disproportionately harmful to lower-income countries, where governments and citizens have fewer resources to weather the storm. Despite their declarations against ‘vaccine nationalism’, richer countries have paid to get to the front …

Prospects and priorities for the Human Rights Council in 2021

by H.E Nazhat Shameem Khan, 15th President of the Human Rights Council, Permanent Representative of Fiji to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Geneva 2021 Review, Blog, Blog, By invitation, By invitation, Human Rights Council, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Inequality, SDGs, Thematic human rights issues, Uncategorized

It is my distinct pleasure to wish you bula vinaka, the traditional Fijian greeting, meaning, roughly, ‘happiness and good health,’ as we begin a new year at the Human Rights Council. It is a singular honour for me, and for the government and people of Fiji, that the members of the Human Rights Council have placed their trust in me …