UN Human Rights Council

The United Nations Human Rights Council holds its 58th regular session from 24 February to 4 April 2025 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, starting with its high-level segment from 24 to 26 February, when dignitaries representing more than 125 Member States will address the Council.



The session will open at 9 a.m. on Monday, 24 February, under the Presidency of Ambassador Jürg Lauber of Switzerland. Delivering statements at the opening will be the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres; the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Philemon Yang; the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk; as well as the Chief of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, Ignazio Cassis. The Council will be meeting in room XX of the Palais des Nations.



On Monday, 3 March, the Council is scheduled to hear a global update by the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights worldwide. The general debate on his global update will start following his presentation of many country-specific reports and updates.



During the session, the Council will hold 30 interactive dialogues with the High Commissioner, his Office and designated experts, Special Procedure mandate holders and investigative mechanisms, and Special Representatives of the Secretary-General. The Council will also hold five enhanced interactive dialogues, one high-level dialogue, and nine general debates.



The Council will also hold the annual high-level panel discussion on human rights mainstreaming with a focus on the thirtieth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action; the biennial high-level panel on the death penalty; panel discussions on early warning and genocide, HIV response and leaving no one behind, and on rights to work and to social security; the annual interactive debate on the rights of persons with disabilities; the annual discussion on the rights of the child; and a commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.



The Council will examine the situation of human rights in several countries under its various agenda items, including the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan, Nicaragua, Afghanistan and Myanmar under agenda item two; in Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Ukraine, Belarus, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and Myanmar under agenda item four; and in Mali, Haiti, Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and Central African Republic under agenda item 10.



The final outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review of14 States will also be considered, namely those of Norway, Albania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Portugal, Bhutan, Dominica, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Brunei Darussalam, Costa Rica, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Qatar and Nicaragua.



Towards the end of the session, the Council will appoint three new members of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

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UN Human Rights Council

The 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council concluded on 11 October 2024. Our #HRC57 playlist contains every statement made to the Council during the five-week session.

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UN Human Rights Council

Some faces of the Human Rights Council's 57th session taking place in Geneva until 11 October 2024. Go to our dedicated #HRC57 playlist to hear what these people had to say.

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UN Human Rights Council

The 57th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council gets underway on 9 September 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland.
#HRC57
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8 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 35

UN Human Rights Council

The 56th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council is underway in Geneva, Switzerland.
#HRC56
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10 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 43

UN Human Rights Council

Just over a month to go before the United Nations Human Rights Council begins its 56th session (#HRC56) on 18 June 2024. Subscribe the YouTube channel to follow all the proceedings.

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The Human Rights Council's 55th session ended on 5 April 2024, concluding six weeks of intensive multilateral discussions and decisions on pressing human rights matters. Go to our #HRC55 playlist for more.

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UN Human Rights Council

The 55th regular session of the Human Rights Council began on 26 February 2024 with speakers including the Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, President of the Human Rights Council Omar Zniber, President of the General Assembly Dennis Francis, and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.

Check out our videos of their speeches.

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1 year ago | [YT] | 180

UN Human Rights Council

GENEVA (10 January 2024) – The Human Rights Council elected Ambassador Omar Zniber, Permanent Representative of Morocco to the United Nations Office at Geneva, to serve as its President for 2024.

Ambassador Zniber was elected in a secret ballot process in which all 47 members of the Geneva-based human rights body cast their vote to appoint its president for 2024 – the Council’s 18th annual cycle.

“It is an honour for both the Kingdom of Morocco and for me personally to have been elected as head of this august Council for its 18th cycle – a position belonging to Africa,” Ambassador Zniber told the Council after being elected. He said he now had a duty to work to “meet the requirements of our common work" which are "so important and so fundamental: the promotion of, respect toward and guarantee of human rights as universally recognized.”

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UN Human Rights Council

The UN Human Rights Council was honoured to be addressed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the opening day of its 52nd regular session in February 2023. You can watch his speech here: https://youtu.be/-gpdZyZz2uI

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