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Fourth session of the Forum on Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law

Date

24 - 25 November 2022

LOCATION

Room XIX, Palais des Nations, Geneva

THEME

“STRENGTHENING DEMOCRACIES TO BUILD BACK BETTER: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES”

The fourth session of the Forum on Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law will be held on 24 and 25 November 2022. In accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 46/4, adopted on 23 March 2021 the theme of the fourth session of the Forum is “Strengthening democracies to build back better: challenges and opportunities”.

Pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 28/14, the President of the Council appoints for each session, on the basis of regional rotation, and in consultation with regional groups, a Chairperson of the Forum from candidates nominated by members and observers of the Council. The Chairperson, serving in his or her personal capacity, shall be responsible for the preparation of a summary of the discussions of the Forum, to be made available to all its participants.

Call for nominations for the Chairperson of the 4th session of the Forum was announced on 15 August 2022:

English | Français (PDF)
English | Français (Word)

On 15 September 2022, H.E. Ms. Patricia A. Hermanns, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Bahamas to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva, was appointed by the President of the Human Rights Council as the Chair of the fourth session of the Forum.

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Participation in the 2022 Forum

Human Rights Council in its resolutions 28/14 and 34/41 decided that the Forum would be “open to the participation of States, United Nations mechanisms, bodies and specialized agencies, funds and programmes, intergovernmental organizations, regional organizations and mechanisms in the field of human rights, national human rights institutions and other relevant national bodies, academics and experts and non-governmental organizations; the Forum shall also be open to other non-governmental organizations whose aims and purposes are in conformity with the spirit, purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations”.  Resolution 46/4 upheld the previously adopted modalities of participation.

Online accreditation system for participation in the Forum opens on Monday, 24 October 2022 and closes on Tuesday, 22 November 2022. All requests for accreditation will be processed online. Successful applicants will receive a confirmation by email. For more details, please consult the Forum accreditation rules.

Secretariat note verbale on accreditation:
English | Français (PDF)
English | Français (Word)

Modalities of participation

In-person participation in room XIX of the Palais des Nations is strongly encouraged. Participants unable to attend in person will be able to connect remotely through the Zoom platform, however, priority will be given to in-person participants. Interventions by Zoom will be limited to 30 minutes per each 3-hour meeting. NOTE: only accredited participants will receive a Zoom link.

Speaking time limit is 2 minutes for all participants.

Interpretation in the room and on Zoom, as well as live webcast of the Forum, will be available in all six official languages of the United Nations. Interventions may be delivered in any of the official languages. On Zoom, for interpretation to work when you are speaking, you must speak the language of the interpretation channel you are listening to.

To register on the list of speakers:

  • Delegations participating in person are invited to raise their nameplates at the beginning of each panel or focused discussion.
  • Delegations wishing to deliver a joint statement are invited to send an email to ohchr-democracyforum@un.org indicating the panel or focused discussion during which the intervention will be made and the list of states supporting the joint statement (or the name of the regional group).
  • NGOs and other representatives without nameplates are invited to come to the list of speakers desk in Room XIX or register via email ohchr-democracyforum@un.org. In your email, please indicate:
    • The panel or focused discussion during which the oral intervention is to take place.
    • How the intervention will take place (in person, remotely through Zoom, or through a pre-recorded video message).
    • Name of the organization.
    • Name of the speaker.
  • Remote participants can request the floor by raising their hand on Zoom at the beginning of each panel or discussion. Note that Zoom participants will be given the floor only at the end of the meeting (guidance on the use of Zoom).

Submission of oral statements

It is strongly encouraged that all statements are sent to the Secretariat before the intervention. This will greatly facilitate the work of the interpreters and the accurate capture of recommendations made by the speaker to be included in the report of the session.

  • Please send statements to ohchr-democracyforum@un.org, with speeches@un.org in copy.
  • Statements must:
    • Be in a Word document (not a PDF or scanned document).
    • Clearly indicate which State or organization is making the submission.
    • Clearly indicate the name of the panel or focused discussion.
  • Please note if you do not want the statement to be posted on the Forum’s website.

Intervention by a pre-recorded video statement

  • Video statements must be received by the Secretariat by 10:00 CET on Wednesday, 23 November 2022.
  • To share the video file please use WeTransfer (guidance on the use of WeTransfer).
  • The video file has to strictly adhere to the time limit of 2 minutes.

Side events

The following hybrid side events will take place during the days of the Forum (24-25 November 2022):

  1. Civil society: Key to building stronger democracies post-pandemic
    Event organized by the Community of Democracies
    24 November 2022 | 13:30 to 14:30 (CET-Geneva)
    Room XXIII, Palais des Nations, Geneva, and online

    Concept note (Word, PDF) | Flyer
     
  2. Human rights and good governance
    Event organized by the International Organisation of Employers (IOE)
    25 November 2022 | 13:30 to 14:30 (CET-Geneva)
    Room XXIII, Palais des Nations, Geneva, and online

    Concept note (Word, PDF) | Biographies of speakers (Word, PDF) | Flyer

Inputs received

Call for inputs on the topics to be discussed during the fourth session of the Forum on Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law was distributed on 11 May 2022:
English | Français (PDF)

The following submissions were received by the Secretariat in response to the call for inputs for topics to be discussed during the Forum. The views and/or opinions expressed in the contributions listed below are those of the authors and do not reflect in any way the views and/or opinions of OHCHR. OHCHR is not responsible for the content of the submissions. The use and posting of the contributions do not provide any legal and/or other status to the contributing organizations or their association with OHCHR.

Member States

United Nations mechanisms, bodies, specialized agencies, funds and programmes

Non-governmental organizations

Academic institutions and experts

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