On March 14th - 15th, the Human Rights Council (HRC) addressed Item 6 during its 40th Session. The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) outcomes of the 31st UPR Working Group were considered for adoption in the plenary. States Under Review (SuR) during the 31st Session were:
Shrinking space for civil society and assembly was regularly discussed by CSOs, while climate change, extremism and terrorism were cited as challenges ahead by SuRs. Consideration and adoption of the reviews were followed by a General Debate, an opportunity for Member States to provide voluntary mid-term reports and for CSOs to provide updates on implementation of recommendations. Recommending States posed questions and SuRs were requested feedback on the status of implementation of certain recommendations during the discussion.
UPR Info presented a statement to the HRC for the General Debate, available here. In the statement, we honored International Women’s Day, observed this month, by highlighting suggestions moving forward in formulating UPR recommendations relating to women’s rights. Specifically, UPR Info emphasized the importance of specificity in recommendations to conduct impact assessments, stressed the need for rhetoric entailing a right holders approach rather than victimizing language, and encourages reporting on gender equality one year after adoption of the Working Group report.
Saudi Arabia, Senegal, China, Nigeria, Mexico, Mauritius, Jordan, Malaysia, Central African Republic, Monaco, Belize, Chad, Congo, and Malta.
Shrinking space for civil society and assembly was regularly discussed by CSOs, while climate change, extremism and terrorism were cited as challenges ahead by SuRs. Consideration and adoption of the reviews were followed by a General Debate, an opportunity for Member States to provide voluntary mid-term reports and for CSOs to provide updates on implementation of recommendations. Recommending States posed questions and SuRs were requested feedback on the status of implementation of certain recommendations during the discussion.
UPR Info presented a statement to the HRC for the General Debate, available here. In the statement, we honored International Women’s Day, observed this month, by highlighting suggestions moving forward in formulating UPR recommendations relating to women’s rights. Specifically, UPR Info emphasized the importance of specificity in recommendations to conduct impact assessments, stressed the need for rhetoric entailing a right holders approach rather than victimizing language, and encourages reporting on gender equality one year after adoption of the Working Group report.