‘The Human Rights Council in 2019’ report aims to provide, inter alia: A written analysis of the main events and development at the Council in 2019. Data on the quantitative evolution of the Council’s work in 2019, as well as since the body’s establishment in 2006. This includes the number of resolutions adopted; the number of voted resolutions; the number …
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2019 Human Rights Council elections: good news overshadowed by complacency and short-termism
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, …
How can yourHRC.org help voting States navigate the upcoming Human Rights Council elections?
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 …
UN High Commissioner shines spotlight on ‘non-cooperation and selective cooperation with the human rights mechanisms’ – New ‘Know yourHRC candidates’ and ‘Know yourHRC members’ email alerts offer important new tool in that regard
The Human Rights Council’s decisions are not binding. As an institution, it cannot force States to do what they do not want to do. Rather, as per its founding mandate (GA resolution 60/251), the Council must work ‘through cooperation and dialogue’ to engage States and to encourage, support, cajole, press and – in some cases – shame States into implementing …
The Human Rights Council in 2016

The ‘Human Rights Council in 2016’ report provides a critique of the main events, developments, successes and failures of the Human Rights Council in 2016. The review includes: – A quantitative analysis of the Council’s work in 2016, as well as since the body’s establishment in 2006. This includes the number of resolutions adopted; the number of voted resolutions; the number …
The UN Human Rights Council in 2015: from efficiency to effectiveness, from reaction to prevention?
The ninth year of the Human Rights Council’s existence will be remembered for many things, some positive (e.g. its work to support human rights in Sri Lanka; the creation of a new Special Procedures mandate on the right to privacy), others negative (e.g. its response to the situations in Iraq, Sudan and Yemen; its consideration of a Joint Inspection Unit …
The Human Rights Council in 2015

2015 will be remembered for many important initiatives and developments, from the body’s work to support human rights in Sri Lanka to the creation of a new Special Procedures mandate on the right to privacy. This new report on ‘The Human Rights Council in 2015,’ published by the Universal Rights Group and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway as part …