Here’s What to Expect at HRC 54
The 54th session of the UN Human Rights Council will take place from 11 September to 13 October 2023.
The COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions have meant that HRC 54 will be held in a hybrid format with online and in-person modalities for informal negotiations, voting and statements. Due to the ongoing renovations started in 2020 and since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, side events taking place in the Palais will be limited to one per organisation and one hour in duration.
Below you can find information about:
- Anticipated sexual rights-related resolutions, panels and reports
- UPR outcomes
- SRI’s events taking place during the 54th session
Please note that all dates are provisional and subject to change.
The latest information about the session will be available on OHCHR’s HRC54 page.
Access the full programme of work for HRC53
Access the HRC53 scheduled meeting calendar
Featured News
Sign on this year’s joint civil society statement on abortion at HRC 54! Join our demand to prioritise public health and universal healthcare now!
The focus of this year’s statement is to highlight the impact of de-prioritising and defunding public health systems and universal healthcare on SRHR and the need to uphold the right to safe and legal abortion. This initiative builds on our previous joint statements on abortion to the Council these past 5 years, including last year’s statement signed by over 425 organizations and individuals. We hope you will join us and sign on again this year!
Read this year’s full statement and sign on
Expected Resolutions Relevant to Sexual Rights
- Renewal of the mandates of Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights, Working group of Experts on people of African descent, Open-ended intergovernmental working group to elaborate the content of an international regulatory framework relating to the activities of private military and security companies (Cote d'Ivoire on behalf of the Africa Group)
- From rhetoric to reality: a global call for concrete action against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance (Cote d'Ivoire on behalf of the Africa Group)
- Enhancement of technical cooperation and capacity building in the field of human rights (Thailand, Brazil, Honduras, Indonesia, Norway, Qatar, Morocco, Singapore)
- World programme on education (Philippines, Brazil, Costa Rica, Italy, Morocco, Thailand,)
- Preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and human rights (Colombia, Estonia, New Zealand)
- Question of the death penalty (Belgium, Benin, Costa Rica, France, Mexico, Republic of Moldova, Mongolia, Switzerland)
- Mandate renewal of mandate truth, justice and non-recurrence (Argentina, Morocco and Switzerland)
- Equality in the enjoyment of education for girls (UAE and UK)
- (China)
- Human rights and unilateral coercive measures (Azerbaijan on behalf of NAM)
- Right to development (Azerbaijan on behalf of NAM)
- Human rights and indigenous peoples (Guatemala, Mexico)
- Use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination (Cuba)
- Renewal of the mandate on democratic, equitable world order (Cuba)
- Renewal of the mandate of the working group on enforced disappearances (France, Argentina, Japan, Morocco)
- Implementation of UN declaration of campesinos and people working in rural areas (Plurinational State of Bolivia)
- The centrality of care and its importance from a human rights perspective. (Argentina, Mexico and Spain)
- Human rights of older persons (Argentina, Brazil, Slovenia)
- Right to privacy in the digital age (Brazil, Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Mexico)
- A world of sports free from racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance (Brazil)
- Cooperation with the UN, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights (Fiji, Ghana, Hungary, Uruguay, Ireland.)
Sexual Rights-Related Panels
Annual discussion on the integration of a gender perspective throughout the work of the Human Rights Council and that of its mechanisms
Theme: Revisiting gender parity and its contributions to the integration of gender into the work of international human rights bodies, including the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms
Time: Monday, 25 September 2023, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Biennial panel discussion on youth and human rights [accessible panel]
Theme: Young people's engagement with climate change and global environmental decision-making processes
Time: Tuesday, 26 September 2023, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Annual half-day panel discussion on the rights of Indigenous Peoples [accessible panel]
Theme: The impact of certain development projects on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, in particular the impact on Indigenous women
Time: Wednesday, 27 September 2023, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
See the list of all panels and concept notes
Sexual Rights-Related Reports
A/HRC/54/23 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights
Impact of unilateral coercive measures on the right to health
Read SRI’s submission to inform the report »
A/HRC/54/27 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to development
A reinvigorating the right to development: A vision for the future
Read SRI’s submission to inform the report »
A/HRC/54/24 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence
International legal standards underpinning the pillars of transitional justice
A/HRC/54/25 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes
The toxic impacts of some proposed climate change solutions
A/HRC/54/26 Report of the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons
Violence, abuse and neglect against older persons
A/HRC/54/28 Report of the Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order
Youth's representation and participation in international governing bodies: challenges and opportunities
Read the report when it becomes available »
A/HRC/54/29 Report of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of people to self-determination
Recruitment, including predatory recruitment of mercenaries and mercenary-related actors
A/HRC/54/30 Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
Homelessness as a cause and consequence of contemporary forms of slavery
A/HRC/54/31 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Green financing – a just transition to protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples
A/HRC/54/32 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
Fulfilling the human rights of those living in poverty and restoring the health of aquatic ecosystems: two converging challenges
A/HRC/54/33 Report of the Secretary-General
Question of the death penalty
Read the report when it becomes available »
A/HRC/54/34 Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Follow-up report on good practices and challenges in the application of a human rights-based approach to the elimination of preventable maternal mortality and morbidity
A/HRC/54/35 Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Vision of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for reinforcing its work in promoting and protecting economic, social and cultural rights within the context of addressing inequalities in the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic
A/HRC/54/36 Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
The rights of the child and inclusive social protection
Read the report when it becomes available »
A/HRC/54/38 Report of the Secretary-General and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Right to development
Read the report when it becomes available »
A/HRC/54/39 Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Rights in Indigenous Peoples
Read the report when it becomes available »
A/HRC/54/41 Annual Report of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development
A/HRC/54/42 Progress report on the fourth session of the open-ended intergovernmental working group to elaborate the content of an international regulatory framework, without prejudging the nature thereof, to protect human rights and ensure accountability for violations and abuses relating to the activities of private military and security companies
A/HRC/54/44 Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Summary of the inter-sessional workshop on the implementation of the right to participate in public affairs in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic recovery
A/HRC/54/47 Report of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee
Impact of new technologies intended for climate protection on the enjoyment of human rights
Read the report when it becomes available »
A/HRC/54/48 Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Panel discussion on digital, media and information literacy
Read the report when it becomes available »
A/HRC/54/50 Report of the Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on the Right to Development
Draft international covenant on the right to development
A/HRC/54/51 Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
Thematic issues: Arbitrary detention and laws on spreading disinformation; arbitrary detention and the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic; and deprivation of liberty of environmental human rights defenders.
A/HRC/54/53 Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Human rights challenges in addressing and countering all aspects of the world drug problem
Read the report when it becomes available »
A/HRC/54/66 Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Promotion and protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Africans and of people of African descent against excessive use of force and other human rights violations by law enforcement officers through transformative change for racial and equality
Read the report when it becomes available »
A/HRC/54/67 and A/HRC/54/71 Reports of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent
Economic empowerment of people of African descent
Reviewing the work it has carried out in the 20 years since its establishment
Read the report when it becomes available »
A/HRC/54/69 Report of the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement
Promotion and protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Africans and of people of African descent against excessive use of force and other human rights violations by law enforcement officers through transformative change for racial justice and equality
Read the report when it becomes available »
A/HRC/54/82, A/HRC/54/83 and A/HRC/54/84 Studies by the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development
Right to development in international investment law
Inequality, social protection and the right to development
Duty to cooperate and non-State actors
A/HRC/54/52 Study of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
The impact of militarization on the rights of Indigenous Peoples
Read the report when it becomes available »
UPR Outcomes
The 54th session will include the adoption of the outcomes of countries reviewed during the 43rd working group session of the Universal Periodic Review, which took place from 01 May to 12 May 2023. The council will adopt all 14 outcomes from the reviews of the following countries: France, Tonga, Romania, Mali, Botswana, Bahamas, Serbia, Burundi, Barbados, Montenegro, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Lichtenstein, Serbia.
Among the 14 outcomes to be adopted during this session, the SRI collaborated on reports with organisations and activists in preparing reports for the UPR reviews of Botswana and Romania.
Romania
ACCEPT, ECPI and the Sexual Rights Initiative
Topics: LGBT, sexual orientation, gender identity, marriage equality, comprehensive sexuality education, access to information, access to sexual and reproductive health services, access to contraception, abortion, HIV/AIDS
Botswana
Banana Club, Back Queer DocX, Botswana Trans Initiative, Love|Loss|Life, Mmammati Human Rights Hub, Iranti, SALC and SRI
Topics: Violence against women, gender-based violence, legal gender recognition, discrimination, bodily autonomy, safe abortion, marital rape, sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Botswana
SAT, The PACT, the Sexual Rights Initiative
Topics: Adolescents, gender-based violence (GBV), sexual rights, comprehensive sexuality education, young people, right to health.
Botswana
Sisonke Botswana, ASWA and the Sexual Rights Initiative
Topics: Sex work, criminalisation, violence against women, gender-based violence, HIV/AIDS.
Sexual Rights Initiative Events
Save the date!
Preventing Maternal Mortality: Autonomy, Abortion and Access: The role of the Human Rights System
Side-event during the 54th session of the UN Human Rights Council
26 September 2023 - 15h00 - 16h00 CET
Room XXV, Palais des Nations
The high number of maternal deaths in some areas of the world is preventable and reflects inequalities in access to quality health services and highlights the gap between rich and poor. Despite a global commitment to reducing maternal mortality and morbidity, the rates of maternal deaths have stagnated or increased in various countries around the globe. To understand and tackle the structural causes of growing inequities in health outcomes, we must factor into the equation social determinants such as classism, racism, sexism and casteism and their impact on sexual and reproductive health and rights. These social determinants are closely interlinked with the material conditions experienced by women and girls around the globe and therefore must form part of an analysis where the realisation of sexual rights is closely dependent on the political economy.
Join us for this side-event that will examine the connections between macroeconomics and sexual and reproductive health and rights, as well as responses by different human rights actors.