Jean-Marc Ferré | Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
A general view of participants at the 16th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.

Special Focus

AWID is an international, feminist, membership organisation committed to achieving gender equality, sustainable development and women’s human rights

Human Rights Council (HRC)

Read in: English French Spanish

The Human Rights Council (HRC) is the key intergovernmental body within the United Nations system responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights around the globe. It holds three regular sessions a year: in March, June and September. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is the secretariat for the HRC.

The HRC works by:

  • Debating and passing resolutions on global human rights issues and human rights situations in particular countries

  • Examining complaints from victims of human rights violations or activist organizations on behalf of victims of human rights violations

  • Appointing independent experts (known as “Special Procedures”) to review human rights violations in specific countries and examine and further global human rights issues

  • Engaging in discussions with experts and governments on human rights issues

  • Assessing the human rights records of all UN Member States every four and a half years through the Universal Periodic Review

Learn more about the HRC

AWID works with feminist, progressive and human rights partners to share key knowledge, convene civil society dialogues and events, and influence negotiations and outcomes of the session.

With our partners, our work will:

◾️ Monitor, track and analyze anti-rights actors, discourses and strategies and their impact on resolutions

◾️ Raise awareness of the findings of the 2017 and 2021 OURs Trends Reports.

◾️Support the work of feminist UN experts in the face of backlash and pressure

◾️Advocate for state accountability
 
◾️ Work with feminist movements and civil society organizations to advance rights related to gender and sexuality.
 

Related Content

Type

Primers

Why New Technology is a Women's Rights Issue

Primer

Por qué las nuevas tecnologías atañen a los derechos de las mujeres

Dossier

La société civile, la participation communautaire et le renforcement du pouvoir d’action dans l’ère de la mondialisation

Primers

Civil Society, Community Participation and Empowerment in the Era of Globalisation

Primer

Sociedad civil, participación comunitaria y empoderamiento en la era de la globalización

Primers

The World Bank and Women's Rights in Development

Primer

El Banco Mundial y los derechos de las mujeres en el desarrollo

Dossier

La Banque mondiale et les droits de la femme et le développement

Dossier

L’approche au développement basée sur les droits de la personne

Primers

A Rights-Based Approach to Development

Primer

Una perspectiva del desarrollo basada en los derechos

Primers

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Primers

Women's Rights, the World Trade Organization and the World Trade Order

Primer

El Pacto Internacional de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales

Primer

Los derechos de las mujeres, la Organización Mundial del Comercio y la política comercial internacional

Dossier

Les droits de la femme, l’Organisation mondiale du commerce et la politique de commerce international

Snippet - CSW68 - March 12 - ES

Día 2

12 de Marzo

Snippet FEA São Paulo City Center (EN)

São Paulo’s City Center

Source: Centro de população de rua da cidade de São Paulo

A woman sitting on the floor on a piece of cloth and a cup for change in front of her
    

Abandoned / Unoccupied Buildings
Illustration of an abandoned, run down building to depict the housing crisis

Population living in the streets 
 

31,000

  

40.000

January 2015: 1st drafting session on the outcome document for the 3rd FfD Conference

Read in: English French Spanish

The 1st drafting session on the outcome document for the 3rd Financing for Development Conference

  • In January 2015 a series of drafting sessions towards the final outcome document started at UN headquarters in New York.
  • Prior to the first drafting session the co-facilitators of the Addis conference preparatory process presented an elements paper for the so-called “zero-draft” outcome document, as the basis for the intergovernmental negotiations of the outcome document.
  • During the sessions, women’s rights organisations emphasised the need to treat the FfD and means of implementations (MOI) under the post 2015 processes separately, because FfD provides a unique opportunity for states to address the structural causes of inequality.