Twenty-fifth session of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee taking place from 15 to 19 February 2021

GENEVA (11 February 2021) - The Human Rights Council Advisory Committee will hold its twenty-fifth session from 15 to 19 February 2021, after having postponed it from 17 to 21 August 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  In view of the current restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the session will be held, for the first time, as a fully virtual meeting online.

Over the course of the one-week-session, the Committee's 18 independent experts*, who serve as the Council's "think-tank", will finalise a number of studies and reports, and continue their work on a number of mandates addressing several human rights themes.  The four mandates the Committee will address this session are:

• Situation of racial equality in the world (General Assembly resolutions 72/157 and 73/262);
• New and emerging digital technologies and human rights (HRC resolution 41/11);
• Current levels of representation of women in human rights organs and mechanisms (HRC resolution 41/6);
• Negative effects of terrorism on the enjoyment of human rights (HRC resolution 34/8).

During the session, the Committee will finalize its work on the current levels of representation of women in human rights organs and mechanisms; and on new and emerging digital technologies and human rights, and will submit its studies thereon to the Council at its 47th regular session in June this year. Also during the session, the Committee will continue its work on the reports on negative effects of terrorism on the enjoyment of human rights; and the situation of racial equality in the world.

The Committee session is open to the media and will conclude with a round-up press release.

Documentation relating to the twenty-fifth session, including the agenda and programme of work, is available on the Advisory Committee’s session webpage.

Background

The Advisory Committee is a body of 18 independent experts serving as a think-tank to the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC). It was established in 2008, pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 5/1, to provide studies and research-based advice, as requested by the Council and meets twice annually.  The Committee's work is implementation-oriented and follows thematic issues linked to the mandate of the Council, namely, the promotion and protection of all human rights.  It interacts with States, national human rights institutions, non-governmental organizations and other civil society bodies.

* The current composition of the Advisory Committee and the term of membership of each expert are as follows:  Ibrahim Abdulaziz Alsheddi (Saudi Arabia, 2021); Buhm-Suk Baek (Republic of Korea, 2023); Nadia Amal Bernoussi (Morocco, 2023); Lazhari Bouzid (Algeria, 2022); Alessio Bruni (Italy, 2021); Milena Costas Trascasas (Spain, 2022); Iurii Alexandrovich Kolesnikov (Russian Federation, 2022); José Augusto Lindgren Alves (Brazil, 2021); Xinsheng Liu (China, 2022); Ajai Malhotra (India, 2023); Itsuko Nakai (Japan, 2022); Mona Omar (Egypt, 2022); Javier Palummo (Uruguay, 2022); Elizabeth Salmón (Peru, 2023); Patrycja Anna Sasnal (Poland, 2023); Dheerujlall Seetulsingh (Mauritius, 2023); Cheikh Tidiane Thiam (Senegal, 2021); and Catherine Van de Heyning (Belgium, 2023).