Did you miss it? Here’s what happened at HRC 57!

The 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council took place from 9 September to 11 October 2024. The ongoing liquidity crisis experienced by the United Nations, which deeply affects the Council’s functioning, has once again put civil society organisations under an additional and significant burden - especially when it comes to accessing hybrid modalities and organising side events.

HRC 57: AWID, BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights,SRI, ILGA World, FORUM-ASIA Statement to General Debate on Item 8

This council must act now to prevent itself from collapsing under the weight of its own compromise and complicity. We call on all states to end colonial domination and oppression, discrimination and persecution - we ask the states, if you can't hold genocidal regimes to account, how can we expect anyone else to adhere to accountability mechanisms.

HRC 57: Joint Civil Society Statement on Abortion : General Debate Item 8

We need a new sustainable development model that prioritises equal and equitable access to all resources for all, and which values people over profits. On the occasion of International Safe Abortion Day, we call for an intersectional feminist model to development that centres the voices of women, girls and gender-diverse persons in determining indicators to measure global development.

HRC 57: Women’s Network for Unity & SRI Statement to the adoption of Cambodia's UPR

We regret that there were no recommendations explicitly made on the rights of sex workers. Whilst current legislation does not criminalize sex work, the 2008 Law on the Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation prohibits activities associated with sex work, leading many to believe that sex work itself is illegal.

HRC 57: Journalists for Human Rights & SRI Statement to North Macedonia's UPR adoption

We urge the government to prioritise the development of a national plan for the inclusion of comprehensive sexuality education in school curricula as a mandatory subject. Access to comprehensive sexuality education will empower them to make informed decisions about their bodies, sexual and reproductive health, sexuality, and relationships. Comprehensive sexuality education is crucial for promoting gender equality, reducing violence, and enhancing the well-being of students across North Macedonia.

HRC 57: SRI Statement to the Panel discussion on th​e implementation of States’ obligations on the role of the family in supporting the human rights of its members

The principle of universality must be applied to challenge which families are considered to be worthy of state protection and therefore which family members are entitled to human rights, according to the state. At this very moment, we are witnessing families being decimated in service of a racist, colonial state and its expansionist aspirations. Are these family members not entitled to human rights?

HRC 57: NSWP & SRI Statement on General debate item 3

Sex workers are habitually denied opportunities to participate in international human rights platforms, such as the HRC. Many of us are refused visas and lack funding to travel and participate in UN processes. Human rights are universal. You cannot promote the human rights of some people while excluding others.

HRC 57 SRI statement to the Interactive dialogue with the Expert Mechanism on the right to development

The study is crucial in a context of willful denial by many Global North states of the right to development, its collective dimensions, and its aim of ending economic colonialism and dependency - the same states that directly benefit from our unequal international economic order.

HRC 57: SRI statement to the Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on water and sanitation

Instead of continuing on this destructive path, he challenges us all to rethink the ways in which water is valued, managed and utilized in order to strengthen communities, to repair our poisoned ecosystems and to better understand the connections between water, territory and our bodies.

HRC 57: SRI statement to the Interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on the rights of older persons

Older persons, including LGBT ones, as well as persons with disabilities are often treated as if they did not have a sexual life. LGBT older persons are discriminated against in residencies and by their families. Their autonomy is frequently violated, including in deciding where and with whom to live and even preventing them from having a sexual life.

HRC 57: Action Canada, The Canadian Alliance Sex Work Law Reform & SRI Statement to the ID with SR on slavery

We appreciate the Special Rapporteur’s efforts to hear directly from sex workers in Canada who are experts in their own lives and have solutions to the harms caused by the criminalization of sex work. This is a fundamental principle of human rights - those who are most impacted have a right to participate in the decisions that affect them. We urge Canada and other Special Procedure mandates to heed this principle.

HRC 57: SRI, IPPF and AWID Statement to the panel discussion on promoting and protecting economic, social and cultural rights within the context of addressing inequalities.

Without addressing oppressive systems, particularly the global financial architecture and its impact, human rights are a distant dream. Given the urgent need to reform the global financial architecture, how can the HRC and other actors ensure that efforts to promote economic, social, and cultural rights do not remain superficial? If the underlying financial systems driving global inequalities are not addressed, it will all remain window-dressing.