What is the Human
Rights Council?
The Human Rights Council is the principal United Nations intergovernmental
body responsible for human rights. It is composed of 47 Member States, which
meets in at least three sessions per year in Geneva, Switzerland.
Its role includes addressing violations of human rights, including gross and
systematic violations, the promotion of respect for human rights for all, and
effective coordination and mainstreaming of human rights within the UN system.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is the
secretariat for the Human Rights Council.
How does it work?
Elected for three-year terms, Member States of the Council discuss, take action
and pass resolutions related to various items of a standing agenda:
- Organizational and procedural matters
- Annual report of the UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the UN
Secretary-General
- Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to
development
- Human rights situations that require the Council’s
attention
- Human rights bodies and mechanisms
- Universal Periodic Review
- Human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied
Arab territories
- Follow-up and implementation of the Vienna Declaration
and Programme of Action
- Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related
forms of intolerance, follow-up and implementation of the Durban
Declaration and Programme of Action
- Technical assistance and capacity-building
During a given session the Council considers the activities of its
subsidiary human rights procedures and mechanisms, and may organize panel
discussions and special events to enhance dialogue and mutual understanding on
specific issues.
Outside its normal sessions, the Council may also hold special sessions
related to country-specific or thematic issues.
In addition to Member States of the Council, Observers, which include
non-Member States, inter-governmental organizations, national human rights
institutions, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), may also participate
in a session.
The Council’s session are broadcast live via webcast. Past sessions are archived.
How to participate
in a session of the Council?
Only NGOs in consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social
Council (ECOSOC) can be accredited to participate in the Human Rights Council’s
sessions as Observers.
As Observers, NGOs are able, amongst other things, to:
- Attend and observe all proceedings of the Council with
the exception of the Council deliberations under the Complaints Procedure;
- Submit written statements to the Human Rights Council;
- Make oral interventions to the Human Rights
Council;
- Participate in debates, interactive dialogues, panel
discussions and informal meetings; and
- Organize “parallel events” on issues relevant to the
work of the Human Rights Council.
Quick links
- A practical guide for NGO participants (i.e. about
accreditation, attending the session, access to the public gallery,
requesting a room for a parallel event, making an oral statement,
documentation and resources, and participation in general, etc.) [Arabic - Chinese
- English - French -
Russian -
Spanish].
- NGO Written Statement Submission is now done on-line at
this link: https://ngoreg.ohchr.org/WrittenStatementRegistration/Home
A user friendly practical
guide to submitting statements on-line can be downloaded here to assist
[English
- French].
- Link
to Oral Statement Request Form [Opens 2pm, Friday 6 September 2013].
Guidelines for using the online registration system are available here [English
- Spanish].
- NGO joint-statement Form - Oral Statement [Download].
- Link to NGO Side-Event Room
Request Form.
- Documentation - Links to the Programme of Work, Agenda,
Annotated Agenda, Order of the Day, Bulletin of Informal Meetings, Council
reports, NGO written statements, HRC Extranet (information on daily
programme updates, draft documentation, copies of oral statements as
delivered by States and other stakeholders, and draft resolutions, etc.).
- Working
with the United Nations Human Rights Programme: Handbook for Civil Society.
- Participating in the Human Rights Council by video
message [Download].
For further information or assistance, please contact the NGO
Liaison Team of the Human Rights Council Secretariat at civilsociety@ohchr.org.