There are a number of upcoming opportunities for civil society groups to engage with the UN human rights systems.
The 34th session of the Human Rights Council will be held from 27 February to 24 March 2017. The organisational meeting for this session of the Council will take place on 13 February 2017. Information on the session can be found here.
The 27th Universal Periodic Review will take place in May 2017, in which the following States will be reviewed: Algeria, Bahrain, Brazil, Ecuador, Finland, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Tunisia and United Kingdom. General information is available here and the timetable of review is available here.
The 28th Universal Periodic Review will take place in November 2017, in which the following States will be reviewed: Argentina, Benin, Czech Republic, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Japan, Pakistan, Peru, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Ukraine and Zambia. The general information is available here and the timetable of review is available here. The submissions are due on 23 March 2017. More information can be found here.
The 119th session of the Human Rights Committee will be held from 6 to 29 March 2017, in which the following State reports be analysed: Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Serbia, Thailand and Turkmenistan. The Country Report Task Forces of the Committee will also consider and adopt list of issues on the following countries: Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, Jordan and Mauritius. The Task Forces will also adopt the list of issues prior to reporting of the Netherlands. Finally, the Committee will consider the country situation of Swaziland in the absence of a State report. More information can be found here and the programme of work is available here.
The 60th Pre-session Working Group on the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights will be held from 20 to 24 February 2017. General information can be found here. The programme of work can be found here.
The 66th session of the Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women will be held from 13 February to 3 March 2017, in which the following State reports will be considered: El Salvador, Germany, Ireland, Jordan, Micronesia, Rwanda, Sri Lanka and Ukraine. More information is available here. The programme of work is available here.
The 68th Pre-session Working Group on the Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women will be held from 6 to 10 March 2017. The countries that will be reviewed are Burkina Faso, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Guatemala, Kenya, Kuwait, Monaco, Nauru, Norway, Oman, Paraguay and Singapore. More information can be found here.
The 60th session of the Committee Against Torture will be held from 18 April to 12 May 2017. The following State reports will be considered during this session: Afghanistan, Argentina, Bahrain, Lebanon, Pakistan and Republic of Korea. The Committee will also consider and adopt a list on issues on Rwanda and will adopt a list of issues prior to reporting on Colombia, Luxembourg, New Zealand and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. More information can be found here.
The 31st session of the Sub-Committee on Prevention of Torture will be held from 13 to 17 February 2017. The Sub-Committee will conduct a visit to Niger from 29 January 2017 until 4 February 2017 and to Hungary from 20 to 31 March 2017. More information on the Sub-Committee can be found here.
The 12th session of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances will be held from 6 to 17 March 2017. The Committee will consider the following State reports: Cuba, Ecuador and Senegal. It will also adopt a list of issues on Gabon and Lithuania. More information is available here.
The 74th session of the Committee of the Rights of the Child is being held from 16 January 2017 until 3 February 2017. The Committee is considering the following State reports: Barbados, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Estonia, Georgia, Malawi, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Serbia. It is also considering reports submitted by on the Democratic Republic of Congo and Malawi on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children child prostitution and child pornography, as well as reports submitted by Estonia and Malawi on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflicts. More information can be found here.
The 92nd session of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination will be held from 24 April 2017 until 12 May 2017. The following State reports will be considered: Armenia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Finland, Kenya and Republic of Moldova. More information is available here.
For information on other meetings and events visit the calendar of meetings available here.
The 111th session of the Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances will be held from 6 February 2017 until 10 February 2017. Information on the Working Group is available here.
The 16th session of the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises will be held from the 13 to 17 February 2017. Information on the Working group is available here.
The 78th session of the Working Group on arbitrary detention will be held from 19 April 2017 to 28 April 2017. Information on the Working Group is available here.
The 19th session of the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice will be held from 15 May 2017 to 19 May 2017. Information on the Working Group is available here.
For other meetings and events visit the calendar of meetings available here.
The 6th United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights will be held from 27 to 29 November 2017. Information about the Forum is available here.
The regular session of the Committee on NGOs will be held from 30 January to 8 February 2017. More information on the session can be found here.
The 61st session of the Commission on the Status of Women will be held from 13 to 24 March 2017. More information about the session can be found here.
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Indonesia |
Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, from 22 March 2017 to 3 April 2017
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Australia |
Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, from 13 to 27 February 2017
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Tunisia |
Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights, from 20 February 2017 to 1 March 2017
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Argentina |
Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, from 1 to 10 March 2017
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Bulgaria |
Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, from 3 to 10 April 2017
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Chile |
Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context, from 20 to 28 April 2017
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Mexico |
Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, from 2 to 11 May 2017
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Canada |
Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, from 23 May 2017 to 1 June 2017
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France |
Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, from 3 to 13 October 2017
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United States of America |
Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, from 4 to 15 December 2017 |
Find more information on these visits here. To find out how you can support the visits, please contact respective mandate-holders via their email address, as listed in the directory.
On Tuesday 16 April 2024, ISHR delivered to both Geneva’s Administrative Council and its legislative counterpart, the Municipal Council, physical copies of the more than 1000 signatures collected in support of a memorial honouring Chinese human rights defender Cao Shunli.
The 79th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights will be held in Banjul, The Gambia, from 14 May to 3 June 2024. The session will be preceded by the NGO Forum, which will be held in hybrid format from the 11-13 May 2024.
13 April 2024 marked one year since the Chinese authorities arbitrarily detained prominent human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and his wife, woman defender Xu Yan. As their health steadily deteriorates, 30 rights groups and the European Union have renewed their call for their prompt release.
