Benin’s human rights record to be examined by Universal Periodic Review

GENEVA (23 January 2023) – Benin’s human rights record will be examined by the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group for the fourth time on Thursday, 26 January 2023 in a meeting that will be webcast live.

Benin is one of the States to be reviewed by the UPR Working Group during its upcoming 42nd session taking place from 23 January to 3 February. Benin’s first, second and third UPR reviews took place in May 2008, October 2012 and November 2017, respectively.

The documents on which the reviews are based are: 1) national report - information provided by the State under review; 2) information contained in the reports of independent human rights experts and groups, known as the Special Procedures, human rights treaty bodies, and other UN entities; 3) information provided by other stakeholders including national human rights institutions, regional organizations, and civil society groups.

The three reports serving as the basis for the review of Benin on 26 January can be found here.

Location: Room 20, Palais des Nations, Geneva

Time and date: 09.00 – 12.30, Thursday, 26 January 2023 (Geneva time, GMT +1 hour)

The UPR is a unique process which involves a periodic review of the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States. Since its first meeting was held in April 2008, all 193 UN member States have been reviewed thrice within the first, second and third UPR cycles. During the fourth UPR cycle, States are again expected to spell out steps they have taken to implement recommendations posed during their previous reviews which they committed to follow-up on, as well as to highlight recent human rights developments in the country.

The delegation of Benin will be led by Séverin Maxime Quenum, Minister of Justice and Legislation.

The three country representatives serving as rapporteurs (“troika”) for the review of Benin are: Somalia, Kazakhstan and Lithuania.

The webcast of the session will be at https://media.un.org/en/asset/k16/k16qep073j

The list of speakers and all available statements to be delivered during the review of Benin will be posted on the UPR Extranet.

The UPR Working Group is scheduled to adopt the recommendations made to Benin at 15.30 on 1 February. The State under review may wish to express its positions on recommendations posed to it during its review.

ENDS