The SRI works at the UN Universal Periodic Review by collaborating with national and regional organisations and coalitions on stakeholder submissions. These submissions touch on a number of different sexual and reproductive health and rights issues affecting the country under review, such as abortion, sex work, access to contraception, and rights related to sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression.

The UPR provides an opportunity for civil society organisations (CSOs) to engage in advocacy at the United Nations. CSOs can submit stakeholder submissions advocating for improved human rights conditions in their country, including on issues of sexual and reproductive health and rights.

 

The Universal Periodic Review: A Powerful Tool for Advancing Sexual Rights

Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights trends at the Universal Periodic Review

 

Our Work at the UPR

HRC Statements
Everything You Need to Know About UPR 50
The 50th session of the Universal Periodic Review was held from 3 to 14 November 2025. 13 countries were reviewed during the session: Belarus, Malawi, Panama, Andorra, Honduras, Liberia, Mongolia, Maldives, Bulgaria, the Marshall Islands, Jamaica, Croatia and Libya. This session included recommendations focused on women’s economic and social rights, addressing gender based violence in all its manifestations, the gendered impacts of climate change, and the degradation of the environment due to inter alia the lingering impacts of nuclear testing.
UPR Submissions 52nd session
The 52nd session of the Universal Periodic Review will take place from 4 May to 15 May 2026. 14 Countries are under review during the session: Namibia, Mozambique, Paraguay, Denmark, Somalia, Niger, Estonia, Belgium, Palau, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Sierra Leone, Latvia and Singapore.
HRC 60: SRI Statement to the General Debate on item 6 (UPR)
The UPR is a useful check point for states to reflect on their human rights programming - their best practices, gaps and challenges. It is a continuous reminder that the realisation of human rights should be a regular facet of states’ work, and that we shouldn’t have to wait for crises, emergencies, and conflicts to centre human rights, or to make a voluntary commitment to do better.
HRC 60: Joint Statement to Sweden's UPR Adoption
We are deeply concerned by the Sweden’s approach to sex work, which indirectly criminalizes the bodies of sex workers, conflates sex work with trafficking, and exposes sex workers to violence, stigma, and exclusion from democratic participation. The criminalization of sex work forces sex workers to the margins of society. Red Umbrella Sweden members often live in precarious conditions, at constant risk of eviction, homelessness, and social isolation, and often face barriers to accessing health care.
More

 

Recent submissions

HRC Statements
UPR Submissions 52nd session
The 52nd session of the Universal Periodic Review will take place from 4 May to 15 May 2026. 14 Countries are under review during the session: Namibia, Mozambique, Paraguay, Denmark, Somalia, Niger, Estonia, Belgium, Palau, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Sierra Leone, Latvia and Singapore.
UPR Submissions 51st session
The 50th session of the Universal Periodic Review will take place from 19 January to the 30 January 2026. 13 Countries are under review during the session: Micronesia, Lebanon, Mauritania, Nauru, Rwanda, Nepal, Saint Lucia, Oman, Austria, Australia, Georgia, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Sao Tome and Principe.
UPR Submissions 50th session
The 50th session of the Universal Periodic Review will take place from 03 November to 14 November 2025. 14 Countries are under review during the session: Belarus, Liberia, Malawi, Mongolia, Panama, Maldives, Andorra, Bulgaria, Honduras, the United States of America, the Marshall Islands, Croatia, Jamaica and Libya. In collaboration with our partners, the SRI submitted reports for Malawi and the United States of America.
UPR Submissions - 49th session
The 49th session of the Universal Periodic will take place from 28 April to 09 May 2025. 14 Countries are under review during the session: Kyrgyzstan, Kiribati, Guinea, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Spain, Lesotho, Kenya, Armenia, Guinea-Bissau, Sweden, Grenada, Türkiye, Guyana and Kuwait. In collaboration with our partners, the SRI submitted reports for Armenia, Sweden and Kenya.
More

 

UPR Database

UPR Database

The UPR Database, a project of the SRI, allows you to access and search all the sexual rights related recommendations and references made during the Universal Periodic Review.

Consult the database.

 

What is the Universal Periodic Review?

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is an intergovernmental process in which each of the 193 UN Member States is reviewed on their entire human rights record every four and a half years. The UPR highlights actions that countries need to take to fulfil their agreed human rights obligations—these actions are presented as recommendations that states must accept or note.

Explainer on Terminology

  • Accepted Recommendation: The state under review agrees to implement the recommendation
  • Deferred Recommendation: The state under review will announce in [later] if it agrees to implement the recommendation
  • Noted Recommendation: The state under review does not agree to implement the recommendation

To learn more about the Universal Periodic Review, please visit its website or watch this video produced by UPR-Info.