x

Human Rights Council review

When creating the Human Rights Council in March 2006 (resolution 60/251), the United Nations General Assembly decided that the Council would review its work and functioning five years later. It also provided that the status of the Council would be reviewed at the level of the General Assembly.

These reviews resulted in the adoption of HRC Resolution 16/21 and of GA Resolution 65/281.

Timeline and steps of the review process

  • October 2009: the Council established the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Council Review (by resolution 12/1).
  • 2009-2010: Member States and observers organized informal initiatives (see below) to discuss the scope of the review. The Council President held informal consultations to delineate the process and modalities of the review. The President presented an oral progress report at the 15th session, and informed the membership of the joint understanding reached with the President of the General Assembly in New York on the coordination of the review process.
  • October 2010: first session of the Working Group on the Council Review
  • February 2011: second session of the Working Group on the Council Review

Informal initiatives on the Council review

In anticipation and preparation for the Council review, a number of informal initiatives were launched by Member States and observers and brainstorming discussions have been held. Among these, are the following:

Other stakeholder contributions

For further information and related documents such as written contributions, stakeholder initiatives, programmes of work and modalities, please visit the HRC review section of the Extranet.