The United Nations Human Rights Council will hold its forty-seventh regular session from 21 June to 13 July 2021 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The hybrid Council will be meeting in room XVIII with most statements delivered virtually.
The session will open at 10 a.m. on Monday, 21 June under the presidency of Ambassador Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji. On this occasion, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, will present her annual report on the activities of her Office followed by a report on the central role of the State in responding to pandemics and other health emergencies, and the socioeconomic consequences thereof in advancing sustainable development and the realisation of all human rights, followed by an interactive discussion.
During the session, the Council will review reports on a wide range of human rights issues and will engage in over 30 interactive dialogues with human rights experts, groups and mechanisms concerning, among other issues, around 40 countries. It will hear the presentation of about 70 thematic and country reports on a wide range of issues, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Council will also hold its annual high-level panel discussion on the multisectoral prevention of and response to female genital mutilation; a panel discussion on the tenth anniversary of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights; a panel discussion on the adverse impact of climate change on the full and effective enjoyment of human rights by older persons; its annual full-day discussion on the human rights of women; the quadrennial panel discussion on promoting human rights through sport and the Olympic ideal; and its annual thematic panel discussion on technical cooperation and capacity-building focusing on the right to education. The final outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review of 14 States will also be considered and adopted, namely those of Micronesia, Lebanon, Mauritania, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Australia, Saint Lucia, Nepal, Oman, Austria, Myanmar, Rwanda, Georgia, Sao Tome and Principe, and Nauru.
A detailed agenda and further information on the forty-seventh session can be found on the session’s webpage. Reports to be presented are available here.
First Week of the Session
The forty-seventh regular session will open on Monday, 21 June, with a presentation by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, who will present the annual report of her Office highlighting its activities and recent human rights development across the globe, followed by a presentation of her report on the central role of the State in responding to pandemics and other health emergencies, and the socioeconomic consequences thereof in advancing sustainable development and the realisation of all human rights, followed by an interactive discussion, which will conclude the following day. An interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea will also be held on Monday.
On Tuesday, the Human Rights Council will hear the presentation of a report by the Secretary-General on Iran and an oral update by the High Commissioner on Nicaragua under item 2 of its agenda – which deals with the annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General. Then, turning to item 3 of its agenda on the promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, the Council will take part in an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing.
On Wednesday morning, the Council will hold a high-level panel discussion on the multisectoral prevention of and response to female genital mutilation, followed by an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the right to health and then with the Special Rapporteur on the rights of migrants. An interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity will start on Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday, 24 June, the Council will hold separate interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, and with the Independent Expert on sexual orientation and gender identity.
On the last day of the first week, the Council will engage in separate interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, the Special Adviser of the Secretary-General of the United Nations on the Prevention of Genocide, and the Working Group on discrimination against women.
Second Week of the Session
On the first day of the second week, the Council will hold separate interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, and the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. It will also begin an interactive dialogue with the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, which it will finish on the following day.
On Tuesday, the Council will begin an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty, and hold a panel discussion to mark the tenth anniversary of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights endorsed by the Human Rights Council in June 2011.
The panel on the adverse effects of climate change on the full enjoyment of human rights by older persons, and the Council’s interactive dialogue with the new Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions will take place on Wednesday, 30 June. The following day, the Council will hold separate interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, and the new Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. It will also begin an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members.
On Friday, 2 July, the Council will take part in an interactive discussion with the Working Group on arbitrary detention on its study on drug policies. It will then begin an interactive discussion with the Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy, which it will conclude the following week.
Third Week of the Session
The third week of the forty-seventh session will open on Monday, 5 July, with the first panel of the annual full-day discussion on the human rights of women, which will focus on violence against women and girls with disabilities. Then, taking up item 4 of its agenda, which concerns human rights situations that require the Council’s attention, the Council will hold an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, followed by another dialogue on the report of the High Commissioner on the situation of human rights in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which will conclude the following day.
The second panel of the annual full-day discussion on the human rights of women will take place on Tuesday, 6 July. It will centre on gender-equal socioeconomic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. On Tuesday, the Council will also hold an interactive dialogue with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, which will present an oral update on the human rights situation in the country, as well as a dialogue on the High Commissioner’s oral update on Myanmar, which it will conclude the following day.
On Wednesday, the quadrennial panel discussion on promoting human rights through sport and the Olympic ideal will take place at the Council under the theme of “The potential of leveraging sport and the Olympic ideal for promoting human rights for young people”. The Council will also hold an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Myanmar on his oral progress report. It will then turn to item 5 of its agenda, which concerns human rights bodies and mechanisms, and hear a presentation of the report of the Forum on Business and Human Rights.
Under item 6 of its agenda, the Council will consider on Thursday and Friday the outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review of the following countries: Micronesia, Lebanon, Mauritania, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Australia, Saint Lucia, Nepal, Oman, Austria, Myanmar, Rwanda, Georgia, Sao Tome and Principe, and Nauru.
On Friday, 9 July, the Council is also scheduled to hold an interactive dialogue with the High Commissioner on her oral presentation on Ukraine, followed by another interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Central African Republic. Both interactive discussions and presentation will take place under item 10 of the agenda, on technical assistance and capacity building.
The Council will then take up item 7 of its agenda, on the human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories, and engage in an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.
Fourth Week of the Session
The last week of the session will start with the annual thematic panel discussion on technical cooperation and capacity-building, whose theme this year is “Technical cooperation to advance the right to education and ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all”. The Council will then hold an interactive discussion on the High Commissioner’s report under item 9 of the agenda – concerning racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance – which focuses on systemic racism, violations of human rights law against Africans and people of African descent by law enforcement, especially those incidents that resulted in the death of George Floyd and other Africans and people of African descent. This interactive discussion will be followed by the presentation of an oral update by the High Commissioner on Georgia.
The Council will take action on decisions and resolutions on 12 and 13 July, as well as appoint Special Procedure mandate holders and adopt the report of the session before closing 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 Human Rights Council at its forty-seventh session is as follows:
Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, China, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Eritrea, Fiji, France, Gabon, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Libya, Malawi, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mexico, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Venezuela.
The President of the Human Rights Council in 2021 is Ambassador Nazhat Shameen Khan, Permanent Representative of Fiji to the United Nations Office at Geneva. The Council’s Vice Presidents are Keva Lorraine Bain (Bahamas), Ebyan Mahamad Salah (Somalia), Yuri Borissov Sterk (Bulgaria), and Monique T.G. Van Daalen (Netherlands), who is also the Rapporteur.
Information on the forty-seventh session can be found here, including the annotated agenda and the reports to be presented.