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 28interactive 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
