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Posts Tagged ‘Rights of the Child’:

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March 26, 2018

Rights of the Child in Humanitarian Settings: A missed opportunity

The Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), the Sexual Rights Initiative (SRI), Child Rights Connect (CRC), the International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC), the Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, Plan International, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education (RFSU) welcome the theme of the Human Rights Council resolution on the protection of the rights of the child in humanitarian situations.

The resolution addresses several issues of critical importance to children in humanitarian situations. It acknowledges the applicability of international human rights law in humanitarian situations, urges states to provide age-, disability- and gender-sensitive humanitarian assistance to children, including for refugee and displaced children, and urges states to meet the needs of children in these settings, including through the provision of sexual and reproductive health-care services. It also encourages states and all other relevant stakeholders to address the vulnerabilities of children, particularly girls, to prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence, various forms of exploitation and neglect, and harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage(CEFM), during emergencies and in post-disaster environments.

Given the recognition of these gross human rights violations within the resolution, we deeply regret that States’ obligations to uphold the sexual and reproductive health and rights of young women, girls and adolescents and to respond to the consequences of sexual and gender-based violence, were not adequately reflected within the adopted text. Although they have been reaffirmed as key human rights by United Nations Treaty Monitoring Bodies (TMBs), by United Nations Special Rapporteurs (UNSRs), by several Human Rights Council (HRC) resolutions and by the Maputo Protocol and are reflected in most national laws and policies, States at the Human Rights Council continue to contest the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women, girls and adolescents.
Young women and girls affected by conflict and humanitarian settings face increased risks of sexual violence and urgently need sexual and reproductive health care and services, such as obstetric and antenatal care for pregnant young women and girls, physical and mental health care, menstrual hygiene supplies, access to contraceptive information and services, including emergency contraception, and access to safe abortion and post-abortion care.

Unfortunately, young women and girls are often unable to, or prevented from, accessing these services.1 Disintegrating health infrastructure in conflict and post-conflict settings can have critical impacts on reproductive health. This, coupled with unsafe, restrictive, or repressive environments; prohibitive costs; lack of information in a language they understand; and fear of further violence or stigmatization for seeking care make it difficult for young women and girls to access these services. This is of particular relevance for girls, who may face intersecting forms of discrimination.

While there continues to be a need for more reliable data on maternal mortality in conflict and displacement settings, there is little doubt that conflict exacerbates maternal mortality.2 In 2015, a United Nations (UN) inter-agency report found that in countries designated as fragile states, which include conflict-affected settings, the estimated lifetime risk of maternal mortality is 1 in 54, as compared to 1 in 180 global lifetime risk.3 Moreover, maternal mortality ratios (MMRs) in countries affected by conflict remain high and have been shown to increase during periods of conflict. In this context, it is therefore disappointing that the resolution fails to properly address the specific forms of discrimination faced by girls in humanitarian settings and the root causes underpinning these violations such as gender inequality, stigma, lack of access to education and poverty. The resolution also does not address access to accountability mechanisms and to effective remedies for children in humanitarian settings.
Ensuring the provision of sexual and reproductive health information and services and accountability for sexual violence in these settings is central not only to an effective humanitarian response but also to fulfilling fundamental human rights and humanitarian law obligations.

It is not enough to underline the vulnerabilities of children and to request states to meet the ‘needs’ of children. Children and adolescents, including girls, are rights-holders whose rights, including their sexual and reproductive rights, need to be respected, protected and fulfilled, at all times but particularly in humanitarian settings when previous structural issues and violations may be exacerbated.
This failure to properly address these key issues represents a missed opportunity to build on the Human Rights Council resolution on child, early and forced marriage in humanitarian settings of June 2017, which, among other crucial key points, reiterated the right of young women and girls to bodily autonomy , free of coercion, discrimination and violence and that violations such as CEFM constitutes a serious threat to the full realization of the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health of young women and girls, including but not limited to their sexual and reproductive health.

According to assessments carried out in specific humanitarian contexts, one of the important things women and girls in humanitarian settings ask for is access to sexual and reproductive health services.5  If the Human Rights Council is committed to fulfill its mandate to promote and protect all human rights
and fundamental freedoms and to ensure that no one is left behind, it needs to listen to them.

1 United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), State of World Population 2015: Shelter from the Storm, A Transformative
Agenda for Women and Girls in a Crisis-Prone World available at
http://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/sowp/downloads/State_of_World_Population_2015_EN.pdf
2 See, e.g., Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical and
mental health, Rep. on the right to health, para. 43, U.N. Doc. A/68/297 (Aug. 9, 2013) (by Anand Grover)
Therese McGinn, Sara Casey, Susan Purdin, and Mendy Marsh, Reproductive Health for conflict-affected people:
Policies, research and programmes, 45 Overseas Development Institute Humanitarian Practice Network 10-11
(June 2004); see also Kayla McGowan, Closing the Gaps of Maternal Health in Conflict and Crises, Maternal
Health Task Force Blog (Dec. 15, 2016), https://www.mhtf.org/2016/12/15/closingthe-gaps-of-maternal-
health-in-conflict-and-crisis/
3 WHO , UNICE F, UNFPA, World Bank Group , and the United Nations Population Division, Trends in Maternal
Mortality: 1990 to 2015, at 15, 26 (2012), available at
http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/194254/1/9789241565141_eng.pdf
4 Center for Reproductive Rights, Briefing Paper, Ensuring Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of
Women and Girls Affected by Conflict, p.6, 2017, available at
https://www.reproductiverights.org/sites/crr.civicactions.net/files/documents/ga_bp_conflictncrisis_2017_07
_25.pdf

5 ibid, p.10, 2017, available at
https://www.reproductiverights.org/sites/crr.civicactions.net/files/documents/ga_bp_conflictncrisis_2017_07
_25.pdf


March 29, 2017

HRC34: Sexual Rights Recap

The 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council took place from the 27th of February to the 24th of March 2017. Here is an overview of resolutions, panel, oral statements and side events related to sexual rights that took place during the session.

The HRC34 Recap provides information on some of the key sexual rights related: 
  • Resolutions
  • Panels and Discussions
  • Oral Statements
  • Side Events
all of which the Sexual Rights Initiative (SRI) was engaged with during the session. 

Sexual Rights-related Resolutions

Rights of the child: protection of the rights of the child in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development A/HRC/34/L.25

The Human Rights Council adopted by consensus a resolution on the protection of the rights of the child in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The resolution, led by the EU and GRULAC, aimed to provide a child’s rights lens to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Resolution recognizes the importance of international human rights law to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and that children are disproportionately affected in complex humanitarian emergencies. In addition, it encourages States to strengthen their capacities to monitor progress and build on existing review mechanisms. It further acknowledges that the 2030 Agenda pledge to leave no one behind involves addressing multiple forms of inequality and discrimination, and provides an opportunity to tackle inequities faced by children especially those who are marginalized or in vulnerable situations.

However, the adopted text does not represent the most advanced human rights standards pertaining to the protection of the rights of the child and falls below the agreement reached in the 2030 Agenda. The resolution fails to incorporate the right to be heard, the right to participate, adolescents’ rights to sexual and reproductive health, and the principle of evolving capacities. The resolution also neglects the particular needs of children with disabilities and LGBTI children and does not recognize that family environments are often sites of violence, especially for girls.

Click here to read the SRI Joint Statement with CRR & CRC

Mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders A/HRC/34/L.5

The resolution was adopted without a vote and led by Norway. It calls on States to respect and support the activities of human rights defenders, including women human rights defenders, and that all domestic laws should reflect this view. It strongly urges all States to take concrete steps to create, in law and in practice, a safe and enabling environment in which human rights defenders can operate free from hindrance and insecurity. One Russian amendment sought to remove reference to “women human rights defenders,” it was rejected by vote. The resolution renews the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders for three years.

The SRI prepared an oral statement addressing the human rights defenders who work on protecting, promoting and advancing human rights related to gender and sexuality. Crimes committed against human rights defenders working on gender and sexuality are widespread but often overlooked and accepted and have the complicity and legitimization of political leaders and governments. The statement calls on States to prevent and reduce the risks that gender and sexuality human rights defenders face.

Click here to read SRI statement

The right to privacy in the digital age A/HRC/34/L.7/Rev.1

The resolution was adopted without a vote and led by Austria, Brazil, Germany, Liechtenstein, Mexico and Switzerland. It reaffirms the human right to privacy protected under existing domestic and international law. The automatic processing of personal data for individual profiling may lead to discrimination or decisions that otherwise have the potential to affect the enjoyment of human rights. Individuals often do not provide their free, explicit and informed consent to the re-use, sale or multiple re-sales of their personal data.

The resolution notes that violations and abuses of the right to privacy may affect all individuals, including with particular effects on women, as well as children and persons in vulnerable situations, or marginalized groups. In many countries, persons and organizations engaged in promoting and defending human rights and fundamental freedoms frequently face threats and harassment and suffer insecurity as well as unlawful or arbitrary interference with their right to privacy as a result of their activities.

Click here to read the resolution

Freedom of opinion and expression A/HRC/34/L.27

The resolution was adopted without a vote and led by the United States of America. This resolution welcomes the work of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and urges all States to cooperate fully with and assist the Special Rapporteur in the performance of their tasks, as well as to provide all necessary information. The resolution renews the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression for three years.

Click here to read the resolution

Birth registration and the right of everyone to recognition everywhere as a person before the law A/HRC/34/L.24

The resolution was adopted without a vote and led by Mexico and Turkey. It recognizes that birth registration and the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law is closely linked to the realization of all other human rights. Birth registration is an important step to preventing statelessness and provides an official record of existence and recognition. Unregistered individuals may have limited or no access to services and the enjoyment of all the rights to which they are entitled, including rights related to health.

Persons without birth registration are more vulnerable to marginalization, exclusion, discrimination, and violence. The resolution calls on States to identify and remove physical, administrative, procedural and any other barriers that impede access to birth registration, paying due attention barriers relating to poverty, disability, gender, age, adoption processes, nationality, statelessness, displacement, illiteracy and detention contexts, and to persons in vulnerable situations.

Click here to read the resolution

Question of the realization in all countries of economic, social and cultural rights A/HRC/34/L.4/Rev.1

The resolution was adopted without a vote and led by Portugal. It reaffirms the importance of economic, social and cultural rights, the interdependence and indivisibility of all human rights, and the obligations of States enshrined in international conventions.

It takes note of the Secretary General’s report in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals, recognizes the need to collect reliable data to measure progress, urges States to strengthen their efforts in this regard, underlines the importance of effective remedies for violations of economic, cultural and social rights and requests the Secretary-General to continue to prepare and submit to the Human Rights Council an annual report on this topic, with a special focus on the role of economic, social and cultural rights in the transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies.

Click here to read the resolution

Sexual Rights-related Panels & Discussions

Panel discussion on preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and human rights

This panel discussion generated concrete recommendations to accelerate progress in reducing preventable maternal mortality and morbidity by applying a human rights based approach. As noted by the panelists and several States, such an approach requires the full respect, protection and fulfillment of women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive rights. Panelists and some States also directly addressed the impact of unsafe abortion on maternal deaths and the need to reform restrictive abortion laws, women’s and girls’ rights to bodily autonomy and the need to pay particular attention to adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health needs and rights.

 

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Click here to read the SRI statement

Annual full-day meeting on the rights of the child
Theme: Protection of the rights of the child in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

States and panelists emphasized the critical importance of adolescents’ sexual and reproductive rights, that this has been a neglected area in law, policy and international development discourse and that States must step up their efforts to provide comprehensive sexuality education to all children, including adolescents, as a matter of priority.

 

Click here to read the SRI statement

Annual interactive debate on the rights of persons with disabilities 
Theme: Article 5 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities regarding equality and non-discrimination

The debate sought to identify good practices in promoting the human rights of persons with disabilities in order to achieve substantive equality and to ensure non-discrimination. It also contributed to raising awareness of the challenges that persons with disabilities continue to face in enjoying their human rights, particularly on accessing reasonable accommodation.

The SRI delivered an oral statement addressing the Special Rapporteur’s report. While the report highlights the importance of support within the family, it fails to recognize the family as primary perpetrators of sexual violence, especially on women and girls with disabilities. While the report addresses access to justice, the assumed lack of legal capacity is a huge barrier for women and girls with disabilities. The statement called on States to shift focus away from protective measures and toward the empowerment, sexual well-being, freedom to express desires and self determination of women and girls with disability.

Click here to read the SRI statement

Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights

The Special Rapporteur addressed the phenomena of fundamentalism and extremism and their grave impact on the enjoyment of cultural rights. She also elaborated on the trend of some actors to subvert the principle of universality on the grounds of religious exceptionalism as means to violate and suppress the rights of women, girls, LGBT persons and gender non-conforming persons.

She argued that cultural rights can play a key role in combating fundamentalism and extremism and provided a comprehensive set of recommendations to States, UN agencies and civil society to prevent the spread of hate, which threatens to undermine the international human rights system.

Click here to read the SRI statement

SRI Oral Statements



Visit the SRI website for transcripts and video footage

Outcomes from the 26th session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) were adopted for: Haiti, Iceland, Lithuania, Moldova (Republic of), South Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Timor-Leste, Togo, Uganda, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), and Zimbabwe.

SRI delivered statements to six countries:

  • Lithuania
  • Timor L’Este
  • Togo
  • Uganda
  • Venezuela
  • Zimbabwe

SRI also made statements on:

  • Panel Discussion on Preventable Maternal Mortality and Morbidity and Human Rights
  • Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights
  • Annual Full Day Meeting on the Rights of the Child
  • Clustered ID: Special Rapporteur on disabilities and Independent Expert on albinism
  • Item 3: Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders – not delivered orally due to time limitations

SRI Side Events

Comprehensive Sexuality Education & Human Rights


HRC33 Panel: Bodily Autonomy & Sexual Rights

A diverse panel of speakers representing States, UN agencies and youth-led organizations delivered insights on the current political, social and factual context of CSE, the need to address deeply entrenched gender norms that stigmatize young people’s sexuality, and solutions that support young people in realizing their human rights, including their right to CSE.

Click here for event highlights
The National Sexual Rights Law and Policy Database documents and compares the status of law and policy related to sexual rights issues in different countries around the world.

Click here to access the database

Read the SRI & IPPF

UPR Toolkit for Sexual Rights Advocates

Available in
English, French, Portuguese, Spanish & Arabic.

more info about the HRC

Created in 2006 to replace the United Nations Human Rights Commission, the Human Rights Council is the foremost international body for the promotion and protection of human rights and can be used to bring substantial pressure on governments to take steps to implement human rights norms. The Human Rights Council is comprised of governments of countries that are members of the United Nations and is an important venue to develop and advance sexual rights as a critical part of the international human rights framework.

Click here for more information on HRC34

March 24, 2017

Joint Statement on HRC34 Rights of the Child Resolution

Joint statement by the Center for Reproductive Rights, the Sexual Rights Initiative, and Child Rights Connect. Delivered on 24 March following the Human Rights Council adoption of a resolution on the protection of the rights of the child in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Click here to download in PDF »


Today, March 24th, the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on the protection of the rights of the child in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The resolution, led by the EU and GRULAC, aimed to provide a child’s rights lens to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the adopted text does not represent the most advanced human rights standards pertaining to the protection of the rights of the child and falls below the agreement reached in the 2030 Agenda.

In particular, the resolution fails to incorporate the right to be heard, the right to participate, adolescents’ rights to sexual and reproductive health, and the principle of evolving capacities.  Moreover, the resolution neglects the particular needs of children with disabilities and LGBTI children and does not recognize that family environments are often sites of violence, especially for girls.

As the highest political body dedicated to the promotion of human rights, the Council has a duty to move beyond the status quo, to champion the core principle of universality of human rights for all and to move forward in the development of norms and standards. The Council must demonstrate the political will and leadership necessary to address the protection of the rights of all children everywhere, bearing in mind that they are active agents in their own lives and rights holders under international human rights law.

The resolution:

  • Recognizes the central importance of international human rights law to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;
  • Expresses concern that, inter alia, 1 million girls under 15 give birth ever year, that the risk of maternal mortality is highest for adolescent girls under 15 years of age, that more than 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation and that 3 million girls are at risk of undergoing female genital mutilation every year, and that more than 720 million women alive today were married before their 18th birthday and that more than one in three (about 250 million) entered into union before age 15, and that, child, early and forced marriage disproportionately affects girls;
  • Recognizes that children are disproportionately affected in complex humanitarian emergencies, increasing their vulnerability as refugees, internally displaced persons or migrants;
  • Acknowledges that the 2030 Agenda pledge to leave no one behind involves addressing multiple forms of inequality and discrimination, and provides an opportunity to tackle inequities faced by children especially those who are marginalized or in vulnerable situations, who face stigmatization, discrimination, violence or exclusion, which requires a multidimensional approach to realizing children’s rights and full potential and empowering them as agents of change;
  • Encourages States to promote a child’s rights-based approach in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;
  • Requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to contribute to the work of the High Level Political Forum on the follow-up of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in consultation with relevant stakeholders by providing inputs from a child’s rights perspective, to the yearly thematic reviews of progress at the Forum, focusing on achievements and challenges, taking into account implementation on recommendations of previous Human Rights Council Resolutions on the Rights of the Child;

The resolution however fails to include the right to be heard and to participation as a general principle of the Convention, even though the Committee on the Rights of the Child itself includes this right as a general principle of the CRC[1].

The resolution reaffirms that ‘the child should grow up in a family environment […] and that families’ and caregivers’ capacities to provide the child with care and a safe environment should be promoted’. The resolution however does not acknowledge the fact that for many children, especially girls, family environments are places of violence. According to UNICEF, ‘on average, about 6 in 10 children worldwide (almost 1 billion) between the ages of 2 and 14 are subjected to physical (corporal) punishment by their caregivers on a regular basis’[2]. According to the same report, with regards to girls ‘Among girls aged 15 to 19 worldwide, almost one quarter (around 70 million) said they were the victims of some form of physical violence since age 15. Never-married girls are most likely to report physical violence at the hands of family members, friends or acquaintances and teachers’[3]. The resolution should therefore have included a paragraph that reflected this reality as it severely hinders the realization of children’s rights and of goal 5 of the 2030 agenda.

Furthermore, the resolution fails to address the issue of the protection of the rights of the child under the prism of evolving capacities, thus failing to recognize that children, including adolescents, acquire enhanced competencies in the exercise of their own rights, requiring less direction and gaining greater capacity to take responsibility for decisions affecting their lives[4]. In its General Comment 20 on adolescents, the Committee on the Rights of the Child  reiterates that the implementation of the rights enshrined in the convention should take account of children’s development and their evolving capacities and that approaches adopted to ensure the realization of the rights of adolescents differ significantly from those adopted for younger children. This is crucial for the implementation of the relevant goals and targets in the 2030 agenda and should have been included in the resolution.

The resolution does not mention that gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls cannot be achieved without respecting, protecting and fulfilling girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights to ensure the full realization of the 2030 agenda. This is especially problematic given the two panels held during this session on the Rights of the Child and Maternal Mortality and Human Rights, respectively, in which States, UN agencies and civil society stressed the strategic urgency to fulfill adolescents’ sexual and reproductive rights.

The resolution does not highlight the fact that girls, especially marginalized girls including  girls with disabilities, are also often denied their right to decide freely on matters concerning their body and sexual and reproductive health, does not reiterate their right to access comprehensive sexual and reproductive health information and services free for discrimination, coercion and violence as agreed upon in Goal 5 and numerous international agreements and fails to oblige States to guarantee the provision of evidence-based comprehensive sexuality education for children and adolescents.

Even though the resolution aims to ‘leave no one behind’, it does not recognize the importance of youth and children and youth and children-led organizations as crucial partners in the implementation of the 2030 agenda. Furthermore, LGBTI children and adolescents are excluded in the list of marginalized children. Children with disabilities are only mentioned once and the resolution does not mention the 93 million children with disabilities in the world likely to be among the poorest and most marginalized members of the population and doesn’t address their specific concerns.

If the core group of sixty one states are to address these challenges in the next rights of the child resolution, increased priority for these issues must be forthcoming from capitals. Leaving no-one behind requires states to ensure that these key areas are included in future resolutions so that actions taken in Geneva are relevant for implementation on the ground and are meaningful to the lives of the children affected.


[1] CRC/C/GC/20 Committee on the Rights of the Child General comment No. 20 (2016) on the implementation of the rights of the child during adolescence

[2] UNICEF, HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT A statistical analysis of violence against children (Summary), available at https://www.unicef.org/publications/files/Hidden_in_plain_sight_statistical_analysis_Summary_EN_2_Sept_2014.pdf

[3] Idem

[4] Innocenti Insight, Save the Children, Unicef, The Evolving Capacities of the Child, available at https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/evolving-eng.pdf


March 7, 2017

SRI Oral Statements at HRC34

SRI Oral statements made to date during the 34th session of the Human Rights Council. This session is ongoing and will conclude on 24 July 2017.

Oral Statements to date

SRI Statement on Lithuania, UPR Report Consideration – 00:31:18

Download in PDF


SRI Statement on Togo, UPR Report Consideration – 00:43:24

Download in PDF


SRI Statement on Venezuela, UPR Report Consideration – 00:34:46

Download in PDF


SRI Statement on Timor Leste, UPR Report Consideration – 00:37:40

Download in PDF


SRI Statement on Uganda, UPR Report Consideration – 00:33:37

Download in PDF


SRI Statement on Zimbabwe, UPR Report Consideration – 00:43:30

Download in PDF


Clustered ID: Special Rapporteur on disabilities and Independent Expert on albinism – 00:51:30

Download in PDF


Annual Full Day Meeting on the Rights of the Child – 1:44:38

Joint statement with Dance4Life, Choice for Youth and Sexuality and the Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights

Download in PDF


Item 3: Interactive Dialoge with the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights – 01:21:31

Download in PDF


Panel Discussion on Preventable Maternal Mortality and Morbidity and Human Rights – 1:36:31

Download in PDF


Item 3: Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders – not delivered due to limited time

 


February 23, 2017

Sexual Rights at HRC34

The 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council will take place from 27 February to 24 March 2017. Find below information about anticipated sexual rights-related resolutions, panels and reports, UPR outcomes and parallel events taking place during the 34th session.

Click here to access the full programme of work for HRC34

Expected Resolutions Relevant to Sexual Rights

  • The rights of the child (EU, GRULAC)
  • Human rights defenders (Norway)
  • Right to privacy in the digital age (Austria, Brazil, Germany, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Norway, Switzerland, Germany)
  • Freedom of religion or belief (EU)
  • Freedom of opinion and expression (USA, Uruguay, Latvia, Benin)
  • Birth registration and the right of everyone to recognition everywhere as a person before the law (Mexico, Turkey)
  • Realisation of cultural and economic rights (Portugal)

Sexual Rights Related Panels

Panel discussion on preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and human rights 

This panel discussion will aim to generate concrete recommendations on actions that States and other stakeholders may take in order to accelerate progress in reducing maternal mortality and morbidity while upholding guarantees of human rights. Click here to download the concept note »

Annual full-day meeting on the rights of the child
Theme: Protection of the rights of the child in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

The meeting will contribute to the discussion on how the 2030 Agenda can advance the rights of the child, in particular by leaving no one behind and reaching the furthest behind first. It will stress the importance of mainstreaming children’s rights in the implementation, follow-up and review of all Sustainable Development Goal. Click here to download the concept note »

Annual interactive debate on the rights of persons with disabilities 
Theme: Article 5 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities regarding equality and non-discrimination

The debate will seek to identify good practices in promoting the human rights of persons with disabilities in order to achieve substantive equality and to ensure non-discrimination. It will also contribute to raising awareness of the challenges that persons with disabilities continue to face in enjoying their human rights, particularly on accessing reasonable accommodation. Finally, the debate will provide an opportunity to highlight the importance of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development for the realization of the human rights of persons with disabilities and to reduce inequalities. Click here to download the concept note »

Click here for a list of all panels and concept notes

Sexual Rights Related Reports

A/HRC/34/27
Protection of the rights of the child in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Click here to read the report »A/HRC/34/45
Annual report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children. Click here to read the report »

A/HRC/34/58
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities. Click here to read the report »

A/HRC/34/56
Report of the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights. Fundamentalism and extremism and their grave impact on the enjoyment of cultural rights. Click here to read the report »

A/HRC/34/25
Question of the realization in all countries of economic, social and cultural rights. Report of the Secretary-General. Click here to read the report »

A/HRC/34/29
Realization of the right to work. Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Click here to read the report »

Click here for a list of all reports

UPR Outcomes

Outcomes from the 26th session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) will be adopted during this session of the HRC. The 26th session of the UPR was held from the 31 October to 11 November 2016.

Fourteen countries were reviewed: Haiti, Iceland, Lithuania, Moldova (Republic of), South Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Timor-Leste, Togo, Uganda, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Zimbabwe

SRI collaborated with organizations and individuals in preparing nine reports for six countries:

Lithuania

  • Family Planning and Sexual Health Association of Lithuania
  • LGL, ILGA Europe

Timor L’Este

  • Kaleidoscope Australia

Togo

  • Afrique Arc-en-Ciel

Uganda

  • Women’s International Cross Cultural Exchange
  • Transgender Equality Uganda
  • Stichting Rutgers

Venezuela

  • PLAFAM

Zimbabwe

  • Katswe Sistahood

Click here to review all SRI joint submissions

All Reports from the Working Groups, containing all recommendations received by States Under Review can be accessed here.

Sexual Rights Initiative Parallel Events



7 MARCH 15:00 to 16:30, Palais des Nations Room XXI
Comprehensive Sexuality Education and Human Rights

This event will explore recent developments on the right to Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) from the perspective of States, youth led civil society, UN agencies and UN Human Rights mechanisms.  Participants will gain a broader understanding of State obligations to provide CSE that is accessible to all children, adolescents and young people, including those with disabilities, and how the Human Rights Council can support the implementation of CSE within the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Click here for more details »

Other Sexual Rights-related Parallel Events

28 FEBRUARY
Breaking the barriers to youth empowerment
Permanent Mission of Denmark
13:00-15:00, Room XXIII#Childmothers Exhibition and Opening
Plan International, Flore-Anne Bourgeois
18:00, Salles des Pas Perdus2 MARCH
Gender Parity: A Global Reality Check
Women at the Table
18:00-19:30, Auditorium Ivan Picter, Maison de la Paix

3 MARCH
The Impact of Fundamentalism And Extremism on Cultural Rights

AWID, Freemuse, Muslims for Progressive Values, CFI, United Nations Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights
10:00-11:30, Room XVIII

8 MARCH
She Decides lunch event

Permanent Mission of the Netherlands
12:00-14:00, UNAIDS

10 MARCH
Sexual and Reproductive Health

United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD)
10:30-12:30, Room XXII

21 MARCH
Human Rights in Yemen and Libya

Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
13:00-14:30, Room XXIV

Click here for a list of NGO parallel events

 

Click here to watch a live feed of the 34th session of the HRC

More info about the HRC

Created in 2006 to replace the United Nations Human Rights Commission, the Human Rights Council is the foremost international body for the promotion and protection of human rights and can be used to bring substantial pressure on governments to take steps to implement human rights norms. The Human Rights Council is comprised of governments of countries that are members of the United Nations and is an important venue to develop and advance sexual rights as a critical part of the international human rights framework.
Click here for more information on the upcoming session

 

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  • What We’re Saying

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    Sexual Rights Initiative
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    We're excited to share with you our highlights from 2018! They feature abortion, bodily autonomy, intersectionality and trends to watch out for! Read more 👇👇 #sexualrights #SRHR #humanrights sexualrightsinitiative.com/20…

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    9:41 am · February 14, 2019
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    Sexual Rights Initiative
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    Great intervention from @GlobalSexWork's Ruth Morgan Thomas at today's #HRC consultation on #HIV and #HumanRights, answering the question of "how to leave no one behind" in the HIV response [thread] ⬇️

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    5:20 am · February 13, 2019
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    Feminism is for everybody. #feminism thelancet.com/journals/lance…

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    12:27 pm · February 12, 2019
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    .@FPNewZealand: "@UN_HRC recommends #abortion law changes in #NewZealand" familyplanning.org.nz/news/20… #UPR #UPR32 #SRHR

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    8:20 am · February 1, 2019
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    Women are often hit harder by austerity and cuts: UN expert says #HumanRights ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/…

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    8:53 am · January 25, 2019
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    New report from @Guttmacher on Ensuring Access to #Abortion at the State Level guttmacher.org/gpr/2019/01/en…

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    10:50 am · January 11, 2019
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    China’s #MeToo Activists Have Transformed a Generation foreignpolicy.com/2019/01/10/…

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    10:49 am · January 11, 2019
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    New @UNHumanRights review of case law and background paper on the role of the judiciary in addressing harmful gender stereotypes related to sexual and reproductive health and rights: ohchr.org/Documents/Issu… #SRHR

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    8:21 am · January 7, 2019
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    Although #abortion is illegal in most of #Mexico, it was decriminalized during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy within #MexicoCity in 2007, making the capital the only locale in the country where safe, elective abortion is available. guttmacher.org/news-release/2…

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    12:53 pm · December 18, 2018
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    #NGOs agendas in #Africa depoliticise #WomensRights and sideline and weaken grassroot African activism. aljazeera.com/indepth/opinio…

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    11:46 am · December 14, 2018
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