Latest updates

Landmark decision by UN General Assembly overturns archaic rule pursuant to which UN was forced to return cash to States that paid their dues so late each year that the UN was unable to spend it, while being starved of funds for the vast majority of the year. This cash crisis meant that many of the UN’s human rights mechanisms have been unable to properly function. The US and other Member States must still pay their assessed contributions in full and on time.

On 3 July 2026, the HRC held an urgent debate to discuss the human rights situation in and around El Obeid, North Kordofan in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Sudan. Sudanese WHRD Noon Kashkoush delivered a joint statement on behalf of ISHR and other groups*. Read the full statement below.

On the sidelines of the 62nd session of the Human Rights Council, defenders examined how systemic discrimination and democratic backsliding are deeply intertwined. Drawing on lived experience, speakers argued that marginalised communities are often the first to detect authoritarian practices, and offered concrete recommendations for building more inclusive, resilient democracies.

ISHR and Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND) delivered a joint statement during a dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, calling for investigations, accountability, reparations to victims' families and non-recurrence in cases of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines.

Organisations denounce the rise in trafficking along the Dominican-Haitian border, affecting particularly migrant women and children in vulnerable situations.

Despite Nepal’s international commitments, human rights violations against Indigenous Peoples continue. The new government has an opportunity to align its laws with international standards, ensure consent for projects affecting Indigenous communities, and protect the right to peaceful protest and the right to defend rights.

As transnational repression grows more sophisticated and pervasive, ISHR convened a strategic retreat with UN Special Procedures and Treaty Bodies experts to strengthen UN capabilities to advance human rights-based responses, protect those affected, and hold perpetrators accountable.

We are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Gustavo Gallón, a staunch ally of human rights and a former board member for ISHR.

At the 13th World Urban Forum, the first Indigenous Peoples Caucus called for recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, including self-determination, meaningful participation, protection of Indigenous defenders and culturally appropriate housing.

In a statement at a panel on climate change and human rights, ISHR and the Institute for Political Economy Sri Lanka highlighted the ‘trap’ in which States could enter if not looking at climate financing with a human rights perspective.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has released a draft general recommendation on dismantling gender stereotypes. ISHR's comments call for explicit recognition of the heightened risks facing women human rights defenders.

At a Human Rights Council debate with the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan, ISHR delivered a joint statement with Sudanese Women’s Rights Action and the Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in South West Asia and North Africa.