“A menos que la comunidad internacional refuerce su apoyo y mejore su protección a los defensores de los derechos humanos ambientales (DDHA), será imposible el pleno disfrute de los derechos humanos y la realización de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible de 2030” Aunque muchos aspectos de la relación entre los derechos humanos y el medio ambiente son importantes, ninguno es …
The march of universality?
URG’s new Policy Report on ‘The march of universality?’ by Başak Çalı and Mariana Montoya presents the findings of a two-year project to map and analyse the implications of all reservations to the core human rights conventions, and to better understand the extent and nature of these key checks on the universality of human rights. As part of the project, …
Environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs): risking their today for our tomorrow
URG today launches a new Policy Brief on the situation of ‘environmental human rights defenders’ (EHRDs), individuals working, often at great personal risk, at the interface of human rights and environmental protection. The report, authored by John Knox, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, and member of the Board of Trustees of the URG, is a first comprehensive assessment of the challenges and risks facing EHRDs, and how the international community can better support their work and protect their rights.
6th meeting of the Istanbul Process
On 20-21 July 2016, the Government of Singapore hosted the sixth meeting of the Istanbul Process, organised in collaboration with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS). The meeting was entitled: ‘A cross-regional perspective on best practices and policies for promoting religious tolerance and strengthening resilience.’ This was the first Istanbul Process meeting to be held in Southeast Asia, …
Media coverage of the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2016
Global human rights crises and concerns are never far for the front pages of the world’s major newspapers, nor far from the screens of our TVs and iPads. Yet this major study of global media trends, conducted by the Universal Rights Group (URG) with the support of the Federal Republic of Germany, shows that the body established by the international community …
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 Human Rights Council’s relationships with the UN General Assembly and UN Security Council
As the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (‘the Council’) celebrates it tenth anniversary in 2016, this policy paper aims to provide an overview of the institutional issues relating to its status as a subsidiary body within the UN system. In light of its subsidiary status, the paper explores the Council’s synergies and interactions with its parent body – the …
Glion III: Human rights implementation, compliance and prevention
In 2006, the then UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, called on the Council to lead the international community from “the era of declaration” to “the era of implementation.” As the Council marks its 10th, and the two human rights Covenants their 50th anniversaries, there are important signs that UN Member States are increasingly turning their attention to the question of implementation, and how best …
Candidates for the post of UN Secretary-General
During the summer of 2016, the URG conducted a human rights-based assessment of the candidates competing to fill the post of UN Secretary-General. A new policy brief on: ‘Candidates for the post of UN Secretary-General: where do they stand on human rights?’ presents an overview of the selection and appointment procedure of the UN Secretary-General, and a summary of each …
Towards the third cycle of the UPR: stick or twist?
In 2005, Heads of State meeting at the UN’s World Summit resolved to create the Human Rights Council and asked the President of the General Assembly to begin negotiations to establish its mandate, functions, composition and working methods. One of the defining outcomes of those negotiations would be the decision to establish, as a central pillar of the Council’s work, …
