Here’s What to Expect at HRC 50
The COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions have meant that the HRC 50 will be held in a hybrid format with online and in-person modalities for informal negotiations, voting and statements.
The 50th session of the UN Human Rights Council will take place from 13 June to 8 July.
Below you can find information about:
- Anticipated sexual rights-related resolutions, panels and reports
- UPR outcomes
- SRI’s online events taking place during the 50th session
Please note that all dates are provisional and subject to change.
The latest information about the session will be available on OHCHR’s HRC50 page.
Access the full programme of work for HRC50
Access the HRC50 schedule meeting calendar
Featured News
- Population Policies and Coercion: Impact of coercive policies and denial of bodily autonomy
Population policies are laws, policies and other measures taken by States as a response to changing population dynamics including by introducing measures to increase populations or to control population growth. Often these are introduced at the behest of states, and disregard the wishes of people concerned. At the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, 179 governments adopted the Programme of Action and called for women’s reproductive health and rights to be at the center of population policies. The need for a human rights framing was necessary because of the many coercive population measures introduced premised on the idea that the decrease in mortality rates and increased fertility rates, would result in population growth that exceeded available resources. These coercive population measures resulted in wide-spread human rights violations.Despite the adoption of the Programme of Action governments have continued to introduce and implement pro-natalist and coercive population control policies and measures.
The side event explores the history and resurgence of coercive population policies, pro-natalist policies, population control policies and everything in between to highlight that all of them are violations of human rights. The side event will also feature presentations from feminists working in different national contexts to oppose coercive population control by centering bodily autonomy and reproductive justice.
Stay tuned to hear more and register for this side event.
Expected Resolutions Relevant to Sexual Rights
- Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and girls on the theme of participation of girls and young women (Mexico)
- Importance of digital and media literacy for the full enjoyment of the right to freedom of speech and expression.(Brazil, Canada, Netherland, Fiji, Namibia)
- Female Genital Mutilation (Cote D'Ivoire on behalf Africa Group)
- Rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association (Indonesia, Lithuania, Maldives, Mexico, USA, Czech Republic)
- Casualty recording and the promotion and protection of human rights (Croatia, Costa Rica, Sierra Leone, Liechtenstein)
- Human rights and climate change on theme of the impact of climate change on right to food (Philippines, Vietnam, Bangladesh)
- Access to medicines and vaccines in the context of right to the enjoyment of highest attainable standard to physical and mental health (Brazil, China, India, South Africa, Thailand, Senegal, Egypt)
- Enhancement of international cooperation in the field of human rights (Azerbaijan on behalf of NAM)
- Independence and impartiality of judiciary, jurors and assessors, and independence of lawyers (Botswana, Hungary, Mexico, Thailand, Maldives, Australia)
- Human rights and regulation on the acquisition and use of firearms by civilians (Ecuador. Peru)
- Promotion and protection of human rights in the context of peaceful protests (Costa Rica and Switzerland)
- Mandate renewal of the mandate of Special Rapporteur of violence against women, its causes and consequences (Canada)
- International cooperation and human right (Cuba)
- Social forum of the council as a subsidiary body of the HRC (Cuba)
Sexual Rights-Related Panels
Panel discussion on menstrual hygiene management, human rights and gender equality
Time: Tuesday, 21 June 2022, 4 to 6 p.m
Panel discussion on good governance in the promotion and protection of human rights during and after the COVID-19 pandemic
Time: Wednesday, 22 June 2022, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Annual full-day discussion on the human rights of women
Panel 1: Exploring the nexus between climate change and violence against women and girls through a human rights lens
Time: Monday, 27 June 2022, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Annual full-day discussion on the human rights of women
Panel 2: Human rights-based and gender-responsive care and support systems
Time: Monday, 27 June 2022, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
High-level panel discussion on countering the negative impact of disinformation on the enjoyment and realization of human rights
Time: Tuesday, 28 June 2022, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Annual thematic panel discussion on technical cooperation and capacity-building
Theme: Technical cooperation on the full and effective participation of women in decision-making and in public life and on the elimination of violence, with a view to achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls
Time: Monday, 4 July 2022, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
See the list of all panels and concept notes
Sexual Rights-Related Reports
A/HRC/50/23
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to peaceful assembly and of association
Access to resources
Read the report when it becomes available »
A/HRC/50/25
Report of the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls
Girls and young women’s activism
Read the report when it becomes available »
A/HRC/50/26
Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
Violence against indigenous women and girls
A/HRC/50/29
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom or opinion and expression
Reinforcing media freedom and the safety of journalists in the digital age
A/HRC/50/30-E/CN.6/2022/9
Report of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women on the activities of the United Nations trust fund in support of actions to eliminate violence against women
A/HRC/50/31
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
Human rights violations at international borders: trends, prevention and accountability
A/HRC/50/32
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to education
Impact of the digitization of education on the right to education
A/HRC/50/37
Report of the Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity
International solidarity and the extraterritorial application of human rights:prospects and challenges
A/HRC/50/38
Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
Non-take-up of rights in the context of social protection
A/HRC/50/38/Add.5
Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
Discrimination on the grounds of poverty
Read the report when it becomes available »
A/HRC/50/39
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change
Read the report when it becomes available »
A/HRC/50/40
Report of the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises
The coronavirus disease pandemic: lessons learned and moving forward
A/HRC/50/42
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association
Protection of human rights in the context of peaceful protests during crisis
Read the report when it becomes available»
A/HRC/50/44
Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Progress, gaps and challenges in addressing child, early and forced marriage, and measures to ensure accountability at the community and national levels, including for women and girls of and those subjected to this harmful practice
Read the report when it becomes available»
A/HRC/50/45
Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Enhancing the accessibility, dissemination and implementation of the Accountability and Remedy Project
A/HRC/50/46
Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
High-level panel on the multisectoral prevention of and response, including the global response, to female genital mutilation
A/HRC/50/49
Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Terrorism and human rights
Read the report when it becomes available »
A/HRC/50/50
Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Impact of the COVID -19 pandemic on the realization of the equal enjoyment of the right to education by every girl
Read the report when it becomes available »
A/HRC/50/53
Report of the the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Human rights and HIV/AIDS
Read the report when it becomes available »
A/HRC/50/54
Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Annual full-day discussion on the human rights of women
A/HRC/50/55
Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Internet shutdowns: trends, causes, legal implications and impacts on a range of human rights
Read the report when it becomes available »
A/HRC/50/56
Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
The practical application of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to the activities of technology companies
A/HRC/50/60
Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance
Sustainable Development Goals and racism
Read the report when it becomes available »
UPR OUTCOMES
All 12 of the outcomes from the 40th session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) will be adopted during this session of the HRC:
- Togo
- Syria
- Venezuela
- Iceland
- Zimbabwe
- Lithuania
- Uganda
- Timor-Leste
- Moldova
- Haiti
- South Sudan
- Sudan
The 40th session of the UPR was held from the 24th of January 2022 - 11th of February 2022. Sudan was initially slated to be reviewed during the 39th session, but its review was postponed and it was instead reviewed in the 40th session.
Among the 12 outcomes to be adopted during this session, SRI collaborated with organizations and activists in preparing reports for the UPR reviews of Uganda, Sudan, and Venezuela.
Uganda
CREA, the Uganda LBQ Loose Network, and the Sexual Rights Initiative
Topics:
- LBQ women
- SRHR
- Harassment in the workplace
- Sexual violence
- Technology assisted violence
- SGBV
Uganda
The PACT and the Sexual Rights Initiative
Topics:
- SRHR
- HIV
- Right to health
- COVID-19 pandemic
- Youth rights
- Civil and political rights
Sudan
Independent Activist and the Sexual Rights Initiative
Topics:
- Women’s rights
- Sexual and reproductive health and rights
- Right to health
- COVID-19 pandemic
- Comprehensive sexuality education
Venezuela
La Fundación Reflejos de Venezuela, Akahata and the Sexual Rights Initiative
Topics:
- Sexual orientation and gender identity
- Discrimination against LGBTI people vis a vis the right to marry and to found a family
- Civil society
Sexual Rights Initiative Events
- Population Policies and Coercion: Impact of coercive policies and denial of bodily autonomy, July 6th from 14:00 - 15:30 CEST
Population policies are laws, policies and other measures taken by States as a response to changing population dynamics including by introducing measures to increase populations or to control population growth. Often these are introduced at the behest of states, and disregard the wishes of people concerned. At the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, 179 governments adopted the Programme of Action and called for women’s reproductive health and rights to be at the center of population policies. The need for a human rights framing was necessary because of the many coercive population measures introduced premised on the idea that the decrease in mortality rates and increased fertility rates, would result in population growth that exceeded available resources. These coercive population measures resulted in wide-spread human rights violations.Despite the adoption of the Programme of Action governments have continued to introduce and implement pro-natalist and coercive population control policies and measures.
The side event explores the history and resurgence of coercive population policies, pro-natalist policies, population control policies and everything in between to highlight that all of them are violations of human rights. The side event will also feature presentations from feminists working in different national contexts to oppose coercive population control by centering bodily autonomy and reproductive justice
- Intersectionality, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and Violence against Women and Girls, June 22nd from 13:30 to 15:00
This online side event organised by the Centre for Reproductive Rights and co-sponsored by SRI, will highlight the interlinkages between intersectional discrimination, sexual and reproductive health and rights and violence against women and girls and marginalized groups. It will create a space in the margins of the Human Rights Council to connect the conversations on intersectional discrimination happening at the global level with the realities of persons experiencing it and provide a platform to amplify the work of the Special Procedures on this topic.
Keep checking CRR and SRI social media for more information and how to register.