Human Rights Council to Hold its Fifty-Sixth Regular Session from 18 June to 12 July 2024
The United Nations Human Rights Council will hold its fifty-sixth regular session from 18 June to 12 July 2024 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
The session will open at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 18 June under the presidency of Ambassador Omar Zniber (Morocco). The opening will be addressed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk. The Council will be meeting in room XX of the Palais des Nations.
The Council this session has before it more than 60 reports and will hold 28 interactive dialogues with Special Procedures mandate holders and investigative mechanisms. It will hold interactive dialogues with the High Commissioner on his annual report, on his reports on Myanmar under agenda item two, on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela under agenda item four, and on Colombia under agenda item 10, and on his oral presentation on Ukraine under agenda item 10
The Council will hold its annual discussion on the human rights of women in two panels on economic violence against women and girls, and on human rights economy and women’s rights, respectively. In addition, it will hold its quadrennial panel discussion on promoting human rights through sport and the Olympic ideal, on promoting inclusiveness in and through sports; its annual panel discussion on the adverse impacts of climate change on human rights, on ensuring livelihood resilience in the context of the risk of loss and damage relating to the adverse effects of climate change; and its annual thematic panel discussion on technical assistance and capacity building, on enhancing technical cooperation and capacity building in the implementation of Universal Periodic Review recommendations.
Under agenda item two on the annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner and his Office and the Secretary-General, the Council will hold an enhanced interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan; an interactive dialogue on the first oral update of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan; and an interactive dialogue with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel.
The Council will also hear presentations under agenda item two of the Secretary-General’s interim report on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran; and of the High Commissioner’s oral update on the promotion and protection of human rights in Nicaragua. It will hold an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea.
Under agenda item three on the promotion and protection of all human rights, the Council will hold separate interactive dialogues with Special Procedures on the protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; the human rights of internally displaced persons; the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy (Hansen’s disease) and their family members; violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences; the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; the right to education; the independence of judges and lawyers; the human rights of migrants; extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises; the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; trafficking in persons, especially women and children; human rights and international solidarity; discrimination against women and girls; the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change; and on extreme poverty and human rights.
Under agenda item four on human rights situations that require the Council’s attention, the Council will discuss the situation of human rights in Belarus, the Syrian Arab Republic, Burundi, Myanmar and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
Under agenda item 10 on technical assistance and capacity building, the Council will look at the situation in Libya, the Central African Republic, Ukraine and Colombia.
The final outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review of 14 States will also be considered, namely those of Saudi Arabia, Senegal, China, Nigeria, Mauritius, Mexico, Jordan, Malaysia, the Central African Republic, Monaco, Belize, Chad, the Republic of the Congo and Malta.
A detailed agenda and further information on the fifty-sixth session can be found on the session’s web page. Reports to be presented are available here. All meetings of this session are broadcast on UN Web TV.
First Week of the Session
The fifty-sixth regular session will open on Tuesday, 18 June under the presidency of Ambassador Omar Zniber of Morocco. After the opening, the Council will begin considerations under agenda item two, on the annual reports of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the United Nations Secretary-General. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk will present his annual report, as well as his report on Myanmar. Subsequently, the Council will hold an enhanced interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, and an interactive dialogue on an oral update from the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan.
On Wednesday, 19 June, the Council, after concluding the interactive dialogue on Sudan, will hold an interactive dialogue with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel. This will be followed by an interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner’s annual report, which will conclude on Thursday, 20 June. The Thursday morning meeting will also see the Council hold an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea and hear presentations of the Secretary-General’s interim report on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the High Commissioner’s oral update on the situation of human rights in Nicaragua. At the Thursday afternoon meeting, the Council will commence discussions under agenda item three on the promotion and protection of all human rights, holding separate interactive dialogues with the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons.
On Friday, 21 June, the Council will conclude the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, before holding two further interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy (Hansen’s disease) and their family members and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences.
Second Week of the Session
In its second week, the Council will hold 12 interactive dialogues. On Monday, 24 June, it will hold dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, and the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. On Tuesday, 25 June, dialogues will be held with the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, the last of which will conclude on Wednesday, 26 June.
Other dialogues scheduled for Wednesday will feature the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, and the Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity. The last of these will conclude on Thursday, 27 June, when separate interactive dialogues will also be held with the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls and the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. Friday, 28 June will see the Council hold its annual discussion on the human rights of women, as well as an interactive dialogue on the report of the Office of the High Commissioner on human rights and new and emerging digital technologies, including artificial intelligence.
Third Week of the Session
To begin the Council’s third week on Monday, 1 July, two panel discussions will be held: the quadrennial thematic panel discussion on promoting human rights through sport and the Olympic ideal in the morning and the annual panel discussion on the adverse impacts of climate change on human rights in the afternoon. In addition, an interactive dialogue will start with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change, which will conclude on Tuesday, 2 July. Tuesday will see the Council hold an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights and hear presentations of reports under item three. The Council will also begin discussions under item four, human rights situations that require the Council’s attention, with interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus and on the oral update of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, which will continue on Wednesday, 3 July.
There will be three more interactive dialogues held on Wednesday, on the oral update of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burundi, the progress report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, and the High Commissioner’s report on the situation of human rights in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The Council will then move to item five, human rights bodies and mechanisms, hearing the report of the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises on the twelfth session of the Forum on Business and Human Rights.
Thursday, 4 July, Friday, 5 July and the morning of Monday, 8 July will be dedicated to consideration under item six of the outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review of Saudi Arabia, Senegal, China, Nigeria, Mauritius, Mexico, Jordan, Malaysia, the Central African Republic, Monaco, Belize, Chad, the Republic of the Congo and Malta.
Fourth Week of the Session
After concluding its consideration of the outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review on Monday, the Council will hear the presentation of a written update on the operations of the Voluntary Fund for Participation in the Universal Periodic Review and the Voluntary Fund for Financial and Technical Assistance in the Implementation of the Universal Periodic Review. It will then move to item nine and hold an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. Subsequently, it will begin discussions under item 10, technical assistance and capacity building, holding two interactive dialogues on the Office of the High Commissioner’s report on technical assistance and capacity building to improve human rights in Libya and on the oral update of the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Central African Republic, which will continue on Tuesday, 9 July.
Also on Tuesday, the Council will hear a presentation from the High Commissioner on the findings of his Office’s periodic report on the situation of human rights in Ukraine, and another of the interim report of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights in the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine. This will be followed by the annual thematic panel discussion under agenda item 10, which this year is on “Enhancing technical cooperation and capacity building in the implementation of Universal Periodic Review recommendations”. Also scheduled for Tuesday and the morning of Wednesday, 10 July is an interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner’s report on enhancement of technical assistance and capacity building to assist Colombia in the implementation of the recommendations made by the Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence and Non-Repetition.
From Wednesday afternoon, through Thursday, 11 July and until the end of Friday, 12 July, the Council will take action on draft resolutions and decisions, appoint a number of Special Procedures mandate holders, and then close the session.
The Human Rights Council
The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system, made up of 47 States, which are responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe. The Council was created by the United Nations General Assembly on 15 March 2006 with the main purpose of addressing situations of human rights violations and making recommendations on them.
The composition of the Human Rights Council at its fifty-sixth session is as follows: Albania (2026); Algeria (2025); Argentina (2024); Bangladesh (2025); Belgium (2025); Benin (2024); Brazil (2026); Bulgaria (2026); Burundi (2026); Cameroon (2024); Chile (2025); China (2026); Costa Rica (2025); Côte d’Ivoire (2026); Cuba (2026); Dominican Republic (2026); Eritrea (2024); Finland (2024); France (2026); Gambia (2024); Georgia (2025); Germany (2025); Ghana (2026); Honduras (2024); India (2024); Indonesia (2026); Japan (2026); Kazakhstan (2024); Kuwait (2026); Kyrgyzstan (2025); Lithuania (2024); Luxembourg (2024); Malawi (2026); Malaysia (2024); Maldives (2025); Montenegro (2024); Morocco (2025); Netherlands (Kingdom of the) (2026); Paraguay (2024); Qatar (2024); Romania (2025); Somalia (2024); South Africa (2025); Sudan (2025); United Arab Emirates (2024); United States of America (2024); and Viet Nam (2025).
The term of membership of each State expires in the year indicated in parentheses.
The President of the Human Rights Council in 2024 is Omar Zniber (Morocco)
The four Vice-Presidents are Febrian Ruddyard (Indonesia); Darius Staniulis (Lithuania); Marcela Arias (Honduras); and Heidi Schroderus-Fox (Finland). Mr. Staniulis also serves as Rapporteur of the Geneva-based body.
The dates and the programme of work of the fifty-sixth session are subject to change.
Information on the fifty-sixth session can be found here, including the annotated agenda and the reports to be presented.
For further information, please contact:
Pascal Sim, HRC Media Officer (simp@un.org), David Díaz Martín, HRC Public Information Officer (david.diazmartin@un.org) and Matthew Brown, HRC Public Information Officer (matthew.brown@un.org).
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HRC24.009E