The 49th session of the Universal Periodic was held from 28 April to 09 May 2025. 14 Countries were reviewed during the session: Kyrgyzstan, Kiribati, Guinea, Lao, Spain, Lesotho, Kenya, Armenia, Guinea-Bissau, Sweden, Grenada, Türkiye, Guyana and Kuwait.
In collaboration with our partners, the SRI submitted reports for Armenia, Kenya and Sweden.
Notably, the 49th session included recommendations focused on the gendered impacts of climate change, and of the degradation of the environment due to inter alia the lingering impacts of nuclear testing. Additionally, recommendations continue the trend of the past few sessions of an increasing emphasis on women’s economic and social rights, including recommendations focused on women’s rights to work and adequate workplace accommodations, to inheritance, including the right to inherit matrimonial property, and women’s right to own land. Furthermore, this session also saw recommendations on the need to address forced marriage in all of its manifestations.
The UPR outcome for each State reviewed during UPR 49 will be adopted at the 60th session of the HRC, which begins in September 2025. The outcome report indicates which recommendations the State agrees to implement and its responses to other recommendations.
The adoption of the outcome is the only opportunity for civil society to make an oral statement during the formal UPR process. The SRI, in collaboration with partners and allies, will work to ensure that sexual and reproductive rights are visible during this segment of the UPR process.
The intervening period is an opportunity to engage in dialogue with States on accepting relevant recommendations – and, at the same time, not accepting those recommendations that are inconsistent with human rights norms and standards. It is also a means for gaining the support of the media and the general public.
Sexual Rights-Related Highlights
Below are some sexual rights-related highlights from each UPR 49 review. Click here for the full list of recommendations made related to sexual rights, including State responses to date. As noted above, the trend of an increasing concern for women’s economic and social rights continues this session. This session's sexual rights recommendations have touched on the impact of climate change on sexual rights, the inheritance rights of women, the right to both maternity and paternity leave, the right to free education, the right to work and and to just and favourable conditions of work, the right to transmit nationality, the right to marry freely and to not be forced into marriage, the right to be free from violence including cyber violence and violence caused by sexist stereotypes and bias in artificial intelligence.
Kyrgyzstan
Deferred
- Consider sharing best practices on how to ensure adequate budgetary allocations to support free and inclusive education from pre-primary to secondary levels, including the implementation of innovative financing mechanisms (Sierra Leone);
- Continue efforts to improve the redistribution of resources for social spending, particularly to strengthen development programmes targeting rural populations (Bolivia (Plurinational State of));
- Ensure accountability and tackle impunity for domestic violence, sexual and gender-based violence, and child and forced marriage (Finland);
- Monitor the implementation of the August 2024 laws on domestic and gender-based violence, bride kidnapping, and forced marriage, and ensure thorough investigations into police negligence in the enforcement of these laws (Canada).
Kiribati
Deferred
- Ensure women's equal rights to use, own and inherit land, by amending the Indigenous Lands Ordinance and repealing discriminatory provisions in customary law on women's access to land (Togo);
- Strengthen support for working women with children by significantly increasing their wages during maternity leave, providing breastfeeding and childcare facilities, and introducing paid paternity leave (Togo);
- Implement a national education retention strategy to address school dropouts, including early warning systems, remedial programmes, interventions for boys, measures to ensure pregnant girls and teenage mothers can continue attending mainstream schools, transportation for remote students, and monitoring of completion rates (Panama);
- Implement a comprehensive, climate-resilient water, sanitation, and hygiene programme with a gender and age-responsive approach, through improved water infrastructure in schools and health centres; community-based water management systems; and urgent repair of desalination systems in Banaba (Mexico);
- Request international cooperation to assess and remediate environments contaminated by the use and testing of nuclear weapons and other nuclear explosive devices, as well as to provide victims assistance in the form of healthcare, psychosocial support, socioeconomic inclusion, support for victim advocacy associations, and risk education (Panama).
Guinea
Deferred
- Adopt a comprehensive anti-discrimination law, prohibiting discrimination and violence especially against women, the LGBT community, persons living with HIV/AIDS and persons with albinism, and ensure access to effective remedies for victims (Cyprus);
- Improve detention conditions by ensuring the separation of detainees by age and sex and by providing adequate hygiene facilities for women and children (Indonesia);
- Guarantee freedoms of expression and assembly for activists, journalists and political opponents, including by lifting the ban on protests and allowing political parties and media outlets to operate (Australia);
- Implement targeted programs for youth and women, particularly in rural and informal sectors with an emphasis on vocational training and local entrepreneurship (Maldives).
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Deferred
- Adopt a comprehensive anti-discrimination law that covers all prohibited grounds of discrimination, including ethnic origin and sexual orientation (Chile);
- Intensify efforts to combat human trafficking, by allocating the necessary resources to the prosecution of existing cases, with a particular focus on women and children, and by dismantling criminal networks (Brazil);
- Amend the Labor Law and other legislation to address sexual harassment in employment and in all workplace contexts (Montenegro);
- Amend the Law on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women to include precise legal definitions and to provide for a supportive environment necessary for women to exercise their rights, report crimes and participate in criminal proceedings, including specialised gender units within the police and prosecution systems and assistance of psychological experts (Slovenia).
Spain
Deferred
- Amend national legislation to remove exceptions to the legal minimum marriage age of 18 and strengthen efforts to combat child and forced marriage (Portugal);
- Decriminalize fully abortion by removing all abortion-related crimes from the Penal Code except article 144, concerning forced abortion (Belgium);
- Address new forms of cyberviolence against women and girls by passing specific legislation and strengthen the self-regulation and reform the normative framework of internet platforms to eradicate stereotypes and sexist bias in artificial intelligence (Colombia);
- Expedite efforts and investments in social protection for children and families, including through the establishment of a universal child allowance (Luxembourg).
- Ensure that unaccompanied migrant children are not age assessed by utilizing invasive and humiliating genital examinations and to take the best interests of children as a primary consideration throughout the entire asylum-seeking process (Liechtenstein).
Lesotho
Deferred
- Take measures to the effective implementation of the 2024 law on the administration of property and inheritance, which provides for equal inheritance rights regardless of the gender of the heirs (Switzerland);
- Strengthen non-discriminatory access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services, including affordable contraception, to improve the maternal mortality and infant mortality rates (Vanuatu);
- Ensure access to HIV education, treatment and prevention, pre-exposure prophylaxis and HIV self-testing kits, and develop outreach activities to ensure inclusion and confidentiality (Switzerland);
- Facilitate access to social protection schemes for disadvantaged women (Iran (Islamic Republic of)).
Kenya
Read our report for Kenya here.
Accepted
- Redouble efforts to address menstrual poverty, by adopting the Sanitary Towels Bill, allocating resources and effectively implementing all laws and policies on menstrual health management, and removing all sort of taxes on related products to make them affordable and accessible (Panama).
Noted
- Modify punitive laws and remove barriers that obstruct access to justice and access to the rights of people with HIV and vulnerable populations (Colombia);
- Amend the Penal Code to decriminalize and legalize abortion in all circumstances (Iceland);
- Ensure the effective implementation of the Protection against Domestic Violence Act (2015), criminalize marital rape, and take the necessary measures to eradicate female genital mutilation and child marriage (Spain).
Armenia
Read our report for Armenia here.
Deferred
- Implement measures to address trafficking in persons, particularly of women and girls, including a specific State policy to address the exploitation of women and girls through prostitution (Chile);
- Step up efforts to reduce unemployment and improve access to decent work, with a focus on promoting gender equality and prohibiting sexual harassment in the workplace (Republic of Korea);
- Strengthen primary health care and universal health coverage, incorporate comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services (including those for migrants and refugees) into national strategies, and raise public awareness of the right to safe and high-quality sexual and reproductive health, in line with international commitments (Uruguay);
- Step up efforts to advance women empowerment and participation in all spheres of the nation’s life and address persisting gender stereotypes and harmful social norms (Philippines).
Guinea-Bissau
Deferred
- Strengthen its commitment to the protection of human life from conception to natural death, in all circumstances, including by ensuring the effective investigation and prosecution of crimes, including trafficking in human beings and organ trafficking (Holy See);
- Adopt a water and sanitation sector policy at national level that integrates a human rights-based approach, addresses essential aspects for the health, safety and well-being of women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons, and contributes to the prevention of diseases related to water quality (Panama);
- Ensure access to continued quality education, by increasing budget allocations to the education sector and creating community-based programs that provide economic support to families, thus reducing reliance on girls for domestic labor and encouraging their continued education (Cyprus);
- Take effective measures to address the cultural beliefs underlying the harmful practice of female genital mutilation, with a view to its complete elimination (Namibia).
Sweden
Read our report for Sweden here.
Deferred
- Take the necessary measures to ensure the implementation of the national action plan against exploitation in prostitution and trafficking in persons, ensuring appropriate mechanisms for awareness and sensitization, data collection, and victims' access to justice (Paraguay);
- Take further action in view of implementing the Roma inclusion strategy, focusing mainly on areas of labour market, education, health, housing and gender equality (Romania);
- Consider establishing a clear regulatory framework for business enterprises and their subsidiaries operating in or managed from Swedish territory with robust monitoring mechanism for the investigation and redress of violation of the environmental, health-related and child rights (Bangladesh);
- Consider introducing temporary special measures to ensure the equal representation of women in senior academic posts (South Sudan).
Grenada
Deferred
- Continue advancing the implementation of the pension system reform for public-sector workers (Cuba);
- Continue efforts to provide services for the prevention and treatment of HIV across the country (South Africa);
- Take measures to promote the development of value chains and disaster management that are gender-responsive (Togo);
- Legally prohibit corporal punishment of girls and boys in all settings, including educational centers, and repeal provisions in the 2002 Education Act that still permit it. This is in compliance with the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Human Rights Committee (Costa Rica).
Türkiye
Deferred
- Ensure that detentions and criminal prosecutions are not brought against politicians, human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists and the LGBTQI community solely for the peaceful exercise of their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly (Luxembourg);
- Amend article 40 of the Civil Code to ensure transparent administrative self-identification process for legal gender recognition free from intrusive requirements (Iceland);
- Reinforce labor inspection to detect and prosecute work related accidents (Sri Lanka);
- Continue to promote gender equality by increasing women’s participation in the labour force and decision-making processes at all levels, as well as improving access to education for women and girls (Malaysia);
- Work progressively to end femicide and violence against women and provide sufficient protection and support for victims of gender-based violence (Malawi).
Guyana
Accepted
- Invest in targeted support to boost school enrolment and retention, especially for boys, and ensure free education for all children, including those from marginalized communities (Maldives);
- Adopt a comprehensive approach that integrates gender equality and the inclusion of persons with disabilities in climate change adaptation and mitigation policies, in line with the Paris Agreement and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (Costa Rica).
Deferred
- Integrate menstrual health into policies and strategies on climate change and disaster risk reduction (Panama)
- Adopt a comprehensive anti-discrimination law that explicitly prohibit direct, indirect and intersectional discrimination on all grounds and in all spheres of life, and ensure access to appropriate remedies for victims (Montenegro).
Kuwait
Deferred
- Amend the Nationality Act to ensure that Kuwaiti women can pass on a nationality to children and spouses in the same way as men can (Costa Rica);
- Guarantee that any child, boy or girl, born in the territory of Kuwait can register their birth, regardless of their nationality or legal status, and that all children in the territory have access to basic rights and services, such as healthcare, education, and a nationality (Uruguay);
- Strengthen actions to prevent, condemn and combat hate speech, intolerance and discrimination against vulnerable groups, including migrant workers, domestic workers and other foreign nationals, by protecting them against all forms of abuse, particularly the retention of passports, and by increasing the frequency of labor inspections (Cabo Verde);
- Create a more transparent process through which stateless people can appeal against loss of citizenship, and mitigate adverse effects of statelessness on freedom of movement, particularly for women (Germany).