The Human Rights Council will hold its fiftieth regular session from 13 June to 8 July 2022 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, will address the opening on Monday, 13 June at 10 a.m. with an update on her annual report, to be followed by an interactive dialogue on the update on her report on the central role of the State in responding to pandemics and other health emergencies and the socio-economic consequences thereof in advancing sustainable development and the realisation of all human rights.
The President of the Human Rights Council, Federico Villegas, Permanent Representative of Argentina to the United Nations Office at Geneva, will open the session in room XX. At an organizational meeting, he said that the Council will hold a high-level event to mark the occasion of the fiftieth session of the Council on 15 June, to provide an opportunity for participants to reflect on the achievements made as well as the lessons learned since the first session held in June 2006. The President of the seventy-sixth session of the General Assembly will address the event, and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will participate via video message. Other speakers include Jan Eliasson, President of the sixtieth session of the General Assembly and former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Estela Carlotto, President of the Association of Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo (Buenos Aires, Argentina).
During the session, the Council will hold 27 interactive dialogues with Special Procedure mandate holders and mechanisms, and nine interactive dialogues with the High Commissioner.
The Council will hold eight panel discussions, including on the root causes of human rights violations and abuses against Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar; on menstrual hygiene management, human rights and gender equality; on good governance in the promotion and protection of human rights during and after the COVID-19 pandemic; on the human rights of people in vulnerable situations in the context of climate change; and on countering the negative impact of disinformation on the enjoyment and realisation of human rights.
The annual full-day discussion on the human rights of women will be divided into two panel discussions focused on exploring the nexus between climate change and violence against women and girls through a human rights lens and on human rights-based and gender-responsive care and support systems. The annual thematic panel discussion on technical cooperation and capacity-building will focus on the theme of the effect of technical cooperation on the full and effective participation of women in decision-making and in public life and on the elimination of violence, with a view to achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.
The Council is also scheduled to adopt the last 13 outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review’s third cycle: Myanmar, Togo, Syria, Iceland, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Lithuania, Uganda, Timor-Leste, Republic of Moldova, South Sudan, Haiti and Sudan.
First Week of the Session
The Council will start on Monday, 13 June with a presentation by the High Commissioner for Human Rights of an update on her annual report, to be followed by an interactive dialogue with the High Commissioner on the update on her report on the central role of the State in responding to pandemics and other health emergencies and the socio-economic consequences thereof in advancing sustainable development and the realisation of all human rights. In the afternoon, the Council will hold an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, followed by an interactive dialogue with the Independent, International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel.
On Tuesday, 14 June, the Council will hold an interactive dialogue with the High Commissioner on her oral update on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, and an interactive dialogue on her oral update on her annual report. Wednesday, 15 June will start with a panel discussion on human rights violations against Rohingya and other minorities in Myanmar. The interactive dialogue with the High Commissioner on her annual report will then conclude, and will be followed by an enhanced interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner’s report on Sudan and an interactive dialogue on her oral update on Afghanistan.
The dialogue on Afghanistan will conclude on Thursday, 15 June, and will be followed by separate interactive dialogues on the High Commissioner’s oral update on Nicaragua, and on her oral update on the situation in Mariupol in Ukraine. There will then be a presentation of the Secretary-General’s interim report on the situation of human rights in Iran. Separate interactive dialogues will follow with the Special Rapporteur on sexual orientation and gender identity, and with the Working Group on discrimination against women.
On Friday, 17 June, the Council will conclude its dialogue with the Working Group on discrimination against women, to be followed by separate interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, and the Special Rapporteur on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members.
Second Week of the Session
The Council will start the second week with separate interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteurs on violence against women, its causes and consequences; on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; and on the independence of judges and lawyers. On Tuesday, 21 June, it will hold separate interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children; and with the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises. In the afternoon, it will hold a panel discussion on menstrual hygiene management, human rights and gender equality.
The Council will hold a panel discussion on good governance in the promotion and protection of human rights during and after the COVID-19 pandemic on Wednesday, 22 June in the morning. This will be followed by separate interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteurs on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and on the right to education.
On Thursday, 23 June, the Council will hold separate interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteurs on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change and on the human rights of migrants. This will be followed by an interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity, which will conclude the following day. Also on Friday, 24 June, the Council will hold separate interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteurs on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and on extreme poverty and human rights.
Third Week of the Session
The third week will start with the annual full-day discussion on the human rights of women’s rights with a morning panel discussion focused on exploring the nexus between climate change and violence against women and girls through a human rights lens; and an afternoon panel on human rights-based and gender-responsive care and support systems. In between, the Council will hold an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, followed by the presentation of reports under agenda item three on the promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development.
Tuesday, 28 June will see a panel discussion in the morning on the human rights of people in vulnerable situations in the context of climate change and a high-level discussion in the afternoon on countering the negative impact of disinformation on the enjoyment and realisation of human rights. In between, the Council will start its consideration of agenda item four on human rights situations that require the Council’s attention and hold an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus.
On Wednesday, the Council will hold separate interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burundi; the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic; the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar; and with the High Commissioner on her report on the situation of human rights in Venezuela, which will conclude on Thursday. Also on Thursday, the Council will hold an interactive dialogue with the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia, followed by the presentation of reports by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on civilian casualties in Syria and by the Forum on Business and Human Rights. Thursday afternoon and all day Friday will be devoted to the consideration of the outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review of Myanmar, Togo, Syria, Iceland, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Lithuania, Uganda, Timor-Leste, Republic of Moldova, South Sudan, Haiti and Sudan.
Fourth Week of the Council
The Council will start the fourth week with the annual thematic panel discussion on technical cooperation and capacity building, which will focus on the theme of the effect of technical cooperation on the full and effective participation of women in decision-making and in public life and on the elimination of violence, with a view to achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. The rest of Monday, 4 July will be devoted to the Universal Periodic Review.
Tuesday, 5 July will see an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. This will be followed by an interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner’s oral presentation on Ukraine and on the interim report of the Secretary-General on human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. On Wednesday, the Council will hold separate interactive dialogues with the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Central African Republic, and with the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya. This will be followed by the opening of agenda item 10 on technical assistance and capacity building and the presentation of the oral update on Georgia.
The Council will take action on draft resolutions and decisions on 7 and 8 July, appoint a number of members of Special Procedures, and will then close the session.
The Human Rights Council
The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system, made up of 47 States, which are responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe. The Council was created by the United Nations General Assembly on 15 March 2006 with the main purpose of addressing situations of human rights violations and making recommendations on them.
The composition of the Council at its fiftieth session is as follows: Argentina (2024); Armenia (2022); Benin (2024); Bolivia (2023); Brazil (2022); Cameroon (2024); China (2023); Côte d’Ivoire (2023); Cuba (2023); Czech Republic (2023); Eritrea (2024); Finland (2024); France (2023); Gabon (2023); Gambia (2024); Germany (2022); Honduras (2024); India (2024); Indonesia (2022); Japan (2022); Kazakhstan (2024); Libya (2022); Lithuania (2024); Luxembourg (2024); Malawi (2023); Malaysia (2024); Marshall Islands (2022); Mauritania (2022); Mexico (2023); Montenegro (2024); Namibia (2022); Nepal (2023); Netherlands (2022); Pakistan (2023); Paraguay (2024); Poland (2022); Qatar (2024); Republic of Korea (2022); Senegal (2023); Somalia (2024); Sudan (2022); Ukraine (2023); United Arab Emirates (2024); United Kingdom (2023); United States (2024); Uzbekistan (2023); and Venezuela (2022).
Federico Villegas (Argentina) is the President. The Vice-Presidents are Andranik Hovhannisyan (Armenia); Muhammadou M.O. Kah (Gambia); and Katharina Stasch (Germany). Ulugbek Lapasov (Uzbekistan) is the Vice-President and Rapporteur.
Information on the fiftieth session of the Council can be found here.
For further information, please contact:
Rolando Gómez (+ 41 22 917 9711 – rolando.gomez@un.org), Matthew Brown (+41 22 917 8366 / matthew.brown@un.org),
or Pascal Sim (+41 22 917 9763 / simp@un.org).
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