What to expect at HRC42

Published on September 06, 2019

For the Spanish version, click here

For the French version, click here

The 42nd session of the UN Human Rights Council will take place from September 9-27, 2019.

Find below information about anticipated sexual rights-related resolutions,panels and reportsUPR outcomes, and parallel events taking place during the 42nd session.

Click here to access the full programme of work for HRC42

Expected Resolutions Relevant to Sexual Rights

  • Right to Development (Non-Aligned Movement)
  • Cooperation with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights (Fiji, Ghana, Hungary, Ireland, Uruguay)
  • The right to privacy in the digital age (Austria, Brazil, Germany, Liechtenstein, Mexico)
  • The right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health (Brazil)
  • The question of the death penalty (Benin, Belgium, Costa Rica, France, Mexico, Republic of Moldova, Mongolia, Switzerland)
  • Human rights and indigenous peoples (Guatemala, Mexico)
  • Enhancement of technical cooperation and capacity-building in the field of human rights (Brazil, Honduras, Indonesia, Morocco, Norway, Qatar, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey)
  • National human rights follow-up systems and processes (Brazil, Paraguay)
  • The role of prevention in the promotion and protection of human rights (Ukraine)
  • Human rights in the administration of justice, including juvenile justice (Austria)
  • World Programme for Human Rights Education (Brazil, Costa Rica, Italy, Morocco, the Philippines, Slovenia, Thailand)

Sexual Rights Related Panels

Biennial Panel on Unilateral Coercive Measures and Human Rights  

Theme: The way forward to a United Nations declaration on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of all human rights, including the right to development

Click here to download the concept note » 

Annual discussion on the integration of a gender perspective throughout the work of the Human Rights Council and that of its mechanisms

Theme: Gender-responsive initiatives to accelerate gender equality

Click here to download the concept note » 

Click here for a list of all panels and concept notes

Sexual Rights Related Reports

A/HRC/42/30

Report of the Secretary General 

Cooperation with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights 

Click here to read the report when it becomes available »

A/HRC/42/37

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples

Thematic study on the rights of indigenous peoples and justice

Click here to read the report »

A/HRC/42/38

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to development 

Guidelines and recommendations on the practical implementation of the right to development that arise from regional consultations on that topic held in 2018 and 2019

Click here to read the report »

A/HRC/42/44

Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences 

Current and emerging forms of slavery

Click here to read the report » 

A/HRC/42/47

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation 

Human rights to water and sanitation in spheres of life beyond the household with an emphasis on public spaces

Click here to read the report »

A/HRC/42/48

Report of the Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order 

Public participation and decision-making in global governance spaces and its impact on a democratic and equitable international order

Click here to read the report »

A/HRC/42/56

Study of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 

Indigenous peoples’ rights in the context of borders, migration and displacement

Click here to read the report »

A/HRC/42/57

Report of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 

Efforts to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Click here to read the report »

A/HRC/42/59

Report of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent on its twenty-third and twenty-fourth sessions 

Click here to read the report when it becomes available »

Click here for a list of all reports

UPR OUTCOMES

Outcomes from the 33rd session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) will be adopted during this session of the HRC. The 33rd session of the UPR was held in May 2019.

Fourteen countries were reviewed: Norway, Albania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Portugal, Bhutan, Dominica, Democratic Republic of Korea, Brunei Darussalam, Costa Rica, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Qatar, Nicaragua.

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

ALBANIA: SRI, Albanian Centre for Population and Development, Albanian Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS, Roma Active Albania, Stop AIDS, Aksion Plus, National Center for Community Services, Psicho-Social Center “Vatra”, Center Act for Society

Topics: sexual and reproductive health and rights; HIV/AIDS; discrimination; comprehensive sexuality education

Click here to read the submission » 

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: SRI, Si Jeunesse Savait

Topics: abortion; gender-based violence; sexual orientation and gender identity

Click here to read the submission in French»

COSTA RICA: SRI, Asociación Ciudadana ACCEDER, Asociación de Desarrollo LBGT, Asociación Esperanza Viva, Asociación MANU, Centro de Investigación y Promoción para América Central Derechos Humanos CIPAC, AGECO, Familias Homoparentales, Frente por los Derechos Igualitarios (FDI), Iglesia Luterana Costarricense, Peras del Olmo, Hivos, Movimiento Diversidad, Asociación Demográfica Costarricense, ICW Costa Rica, Colectivo Trans-Parencias, Colectiva Transcendientes, Siwo Alar Hombres Trans CR, y la Iniciativa por los Derechos Sexuales

Topics: abortion; emergency contraception; equal marriage; gender identity, people living with HIV, right to equality and non-discrimination.

Click here to read the submission in Spanish »

NICARAGUA: SRI, Agrupación de Mujeres Trans y Culturales (AMTC)

Topics:  gender identity; sexual orientation; trans people; sexual diversity; discrimination; violence; torture; equal marriage; human rights defenders.

Click here to read the submission in Spanish »

PORTUGAL: SRI, Associação para o Planeamento da Família

Topics: health; education; comprehensive sexuality education; implementation of CSE in schools.

Click here to read the submission » 

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

Sexual Rights Initiative Side Event

Reproductive Justice and Abortion
Room XXIII- Palais des Nations, Geneva
Wednesday 25 September 2019, 13:00-14:00. 

Reproductive justice focuses on the right to maintain bodily autonomy, to parent and not to parent in safe and healthy environments. It does so by supporting community processes to foster the material conditions that shift underlying social determinants of health, therefore creating meaningful choices. It is critical of the impact of criminalization of sexual and reproductive decisions on the safety and health of communities. It weaves the individual into the community and the local into the global. This side event builds up on the conversation on intersectionality as politics and practice that we had during our previous side event. By engaging with the framework of reproductive justice we continue to delve into intersectionality to show how it shapes our work in the context of the upcoming International Safe Abortion Day.

Invited speakers (tbc) include Catalina Devandas (UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities); Paola Salwan Daher (Senior Global Advocacy Advisor, Center for Reproductive Rights); Zane Dangor, (Special Advisor to the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, South Africa). The panel will be moderated by Urszula Grycuk (Federation for Women and Family Planning).

CART closed captioning in English. French and Spanish interpretation will be provided. The side event will be livestreamed on the SRI Facebook page www.facebook.com/SRInitiative  

Join the conversation using the hashtags #HRC42 #ReproductiveJustice #LetsTalkAbortion #Sept28

Other Sexual Rights-related Events

Side events are subject to change. Please check the daily order of the day and bulletin of informal meetings on the Human Rights Council website.

16 SEPTEMBER

Accountability for Women’s and Girls’ Human Rights in Humanitarian Settings

Permanent Missions of Canada, Georgia, New Zealand, Sweden and Uruguay, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), UN Women, Center for Reproductive Rights, Riksförbundet för sexuell upplysning (RFSU), International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), Legal Action Worldwide (LAW), Plan International, Sexual Rights Initiative (SRI)

14:30-16:30, Room VIII

12 SEPTEMBER 

Infertility and Human Rights 

Center of Reproductive Rights, Inc.

12:00 - 13:00, Room XXII

10 SEPTEMBER 

Gender and Sexuality

Muslims for Progressive Values 

13:00-14:00, Room IV

11 SEPTEMBER

Human Rights Council Elections 2019: discussions of candidate States’ visions for membership

Amnesty International, International Service for Human Rights

10:00-11:30, Room XXV

Privacy in the digital age 

Article 19, International Centre Against Censorship 

14:30-16:00, Room VIII

18 SEPTEMBER 

Ending Reprisals

International Service for Human Rights 

16:00 - 17:00, Room IV

19 SEPTEMBER 

Parliamentarians and the UPR 

UPR Info

14:00 - 15:00, Room IX 

Click here for more information on the upcoming session