At the UN Human Rights Council last year, the UK faced its second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) – the process by which every member state has its human rights record scrutinised. The UK received 132 recommendations from member states. In response, the UK government pledged to provide a voluntary mid-term report on their implementation.
In order to write this report, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is currently consulting with the public on which of these recommendations should be addressed, and whether there are any additional human rights issues that should be included.
UNA-UK response
UNA-UK has submitted a response to the MoJ based on its work in 2012 with the Joint Committee on Human Rights.
Click here to read UNA-UK's response to the Ministry of Justice UPR consultation.
While a number of human rights issues of concern were raised at the UK’s review, UNA-UK has chosen to focus on ones that may be overlooked by other NGOs, and that seek to strengthen international law and the UK’s engagement with the UN.
Take Action
UNA-UK is now calling on its members and supporters to take action and submit their own responses to the consultation. We need your help to show the UK government that engaging with the UN's human rights framework is important to UK citizens.
Click here to tell us which human rights issues YOU think should be addressed
Responses from all members and supporters will be collated by UNA-UK and forwarded to the Ministry of Justice. The deadline for completing this action before the consultation closes is Tuesday 24 September.
UNA Nations to hold meetings on the UK's UPR
As many of the UK's UPR recommendations correspond to critically important devolved issues, the UNA Nations, in coordination with UNA-UK, will be holding meetings in September to discuss their own response to the MoJ's consultation.
UNA Northern Ireland, UNA Scotland and UNA Wales will be hosting meetings in their respective regions. UNA London and South East Region will hold a meeting open to all branches and regions in England.
Further information on these meetings can be found on the UNA-UK events calendar.
