Credit: Council of Europe
During the month of January 2016, a number of bodies will be in session whose mandates are relevant to the protection of human rights. These include one regional human rights monitoring body, the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR), in addition to four United Nations mechanisms: the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), the Human Rights Council Working Group on Situations, and the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO Committee).
283rd Session of the European Committee of Social Rights
The European Committee of Social Rights will convene for its 283rd session from January 26 to 28, 2016 in Strasbourg, France. During the session, the Committee will publicly release its observations on States’ implementation of rights related to children, families, and migrants based on reports reviewed by the Committee in 2015; prepare its observations on States’ implementation of rights related to employment, training, and equal opportunities; review pending collective complaints; and, discuss other matters, including States’ reports concerning the articles of the European Social Charter that they have not accepted (“non-accepted provisions”). [COE]
According to the session agenda, the Committee will examine the progress of the procedure relating to 20 collective complaints that are pending admissibility or merits decisions. See the full list of ongoing complaints on the Committee’s webpage.
To learn more about the European Committee of Social Rights, visit the IJRC Online Resource Hub.
71st Session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child
The Committee on the Rights of the Child is holding its 71st session in Geneva, Switzerland from January 11 to 29, 2016. According to the provisional agenda, the Committee will hold its interactive dialogue with the governments of Benin, Brunei Darussalam, France, Haiti, Iran, Ireland, Kenya, Latvia, Maldives, Oman, Peru, Senegal, Zambia, and Zimbabwe concerning their implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It will also review Latvia and Peru’s implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention concerning the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict.
The Committee will base its reviews on the States’ reports, their responses to the Committee’s list of issues of particular interest, and any submissions from civil society. These documents are all available on the session webpage. Video of the interactive dialogues can be viewed on UN Treaty Body Webcast.
In addition, the Committee will prepare for a day of general discussion focused on children’s right to a healthy environment, to be held in September 2016. It will also continue its work on four general comments, concerning public spending, adolescents, street children, and children and migration.
Visit the IJRC Online Resource Hub for additional information on the Committee on the Rights of the Child and other UN human rights treaty bodies.
24th Session of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review
The Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is holding its 24th session in Geneva, Switzerland from January 18 to 29, 2016. This session is the twelfth of the UPR Working Group to be held during the second cycle of the UPR process and it will review States’ overall human rights records, including their implementation of the recommendations from the first UPR cycle. [OHCHR Press Release]
The States to be reviewed during this session are, in order of review: Namibia, Niger, Mozambique, Estonia, Paraguay, Belgium, Denmark, Palau, Somalia, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Latvia, Sierra Leone, and Singapore.
Each State’s review consists of an interactive dialogue with the Human Rights Council, during which peer States may pose questions or recommendations for the country under review. The outcome of these reviews will be adopted by the Council at its June 2016 session. See the reports submitted by the government, United Nations bodies, and civil society for each State’s review on the session webpage or by country.
For additional information on the Universal Periodic Review, visit the IJRC Online Resource Hub. Video of the each country’s review can be accessed on UN Web TV.
17th Session of the Human Rights Council Working Group on Situations
The United Nations Human Rights Council Working Group on Situations, the group of State representatives responsible for reviewing allegations concerning serious and systemic human rights violations, will hold its 17th session from January 25 to 29, 2016.
During its sessions, the Working Group on Situations makes decisions on whether to dismiss or continue reviewing communications, request information from the State concerned, or transmit the complaint to the Human Rights Council for further consideration. See OHCHR, Working Group on Situations.
For additional information on the UN Human Rights Council and its components, visit the IJRC Online Resource Hub.
Regular Session of the Committee on the Non-Governmental Organizations
The Committee on the Non-Governmental Organizations, the entity responsible for managing civil society groups’ consultative status with the United Nations, will hold its 2016 regular session from January 25 to February 3, 2016 in New York, United States of America.
According to the provisional agenda, the Committee expects to review 275 new applications for consultative status by NGOs in addition to 200 applications deferred from earlier sessions and 441 quadrennial reports of NGOs with general or special consultative status. The session’s recommendations will be sent to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for its approval during its April 2016 meeting. The information note for participants contains a full list of organizations whose applications the Committee will consider, as well as other details of the session.