The scale of human rights violations currently facing the international community means that it is critical for the Human Rights Council to respond effectively – for the welfare of individuals around the world and for the future status of human rights within the overall UN institutional architecture.
As a result, UNA-UK and and the Universal Rights Group brought together human rights experts from academia, the United Nations, UK Government and civil society for a high-level roundtable event on 22 November 2016. Participants analysed the effectiveness of the UN Human Rights Council and the capacity of the United Kingdom to exercise leadership on reform.
UNA-UK’s report highlights the lessons learned from this roundtable discussion and is designed to strengthen the hand of the United Kingdom – a permanent member of the Security Council and a voting member of the HRC – in ensuring that the UN human rights pillar is sufficiently equipped to respond to the challenges facing the international community.
As the UK prepares for its next Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on 4 May, it is more important than ever for the UK to lead by example and take the positive steps necessary to raise its human rights standards and encourage other UN member states to comply.
You can review the full list of recommendations and contributors in the report.
To request a hard copy, please contact Natalie Saad on info@una.org.uk.
