23 February 2022

The United Nations Human Rights Council will hold its forty-ninth regular session from 28 February to 1 April 2022 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, starting with a high-level segment from 28 February to 2 March, when dignitaries representing more than 130 Member States will address the Council. 

The session will open at 9 a.m. on Monday, 28 February under the presidency of Federico Villegas (Argentina).  The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres; the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid; the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet; as well as the Chief of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, Ignazio Cassis, will deliver speeches at the opening.  The Council will be meeting in room XIX of the Palais des Nations in hybrid format.

During the session, the Council will consider over 100 reports being presented by more than 30 human rights experts and groups.  Around 50 country situations and 40 themes will be addressed by these presentations, including the human rights dimensions to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Council will also hold the annual high-level mainstreaming panel on the contribution of universal participation to the mainstreaming of human rights throughout the United Nations system; a meeting on technical cooperation in protecting the human rights of vulnerable persons in and after the COVID-19 pandemic; the annual discussion on the rights of the child on the theme of the rights of the child and family reunification; a panel discussion on access to COVID-19 vaccines; the annual debate on the rights of persons with disabilities with a focus on statistics and data collection under article 31 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; a panel on public policies on COVID-19; and a debate on racial discrimination with the theme “voices for action against racism”.

The final outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review of 13 States will also be considered, namely those of Greece, Suriname, Samoa, Hungary, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Papua New Guinea, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Eswatini, Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago, Thailand and Ireland. 

A detailed agenda and further information on the forty-ninth session can be found on the session’s webpage.  Reports to be presented are available here.

First Week of the Session

The forty-ninth regular session will open on Monday, 28 February with the high-level segment, which will continue through 2 March, and during which the Council will notably hear addresses by more than 130 dignitaries, including five heads of State.  It will then hold its annual high-level panel discussion on human rights mainstreaming, which is devoted this year to observing the tenth anniversary of the Voluntary Technical Assistance Trust Fund to Support the Participation of Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States in the Work of the Human Rights Council. 

After concluding its high-level segment on Wednesday, 2 March, the Council will hold a general segment.  On Thursday, 3 March, the Council will hold an interactive dialogue with the High Commissioner on her report on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the obligation to ensure accountability and justice.  It will then hold an interactive dialogue on the oral update of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea.  This will be followed by an interactive dialogue on the written update of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on enhancing its monitoring and reporting on the situation of human rights in Sri Lanka, including on progress in reconciliation and accountability.  At the end of the day on Thursday, the Council will hold an interactive dialogue with the High Commissioner on the written report of the Office of the High Commissioner on enhancing and broadening monitoring of the situation of human rights in Nicaragua.

On Friday, 4 March, the Council will hold an enhanced interactive dialogue on the human rights in Sudan following the military takeover, during which it will hear the High Commissioner’s oral update; an interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner’s comprehensive written report on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, focusing on the accountability of all perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses in the conflict; and an interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner’s oral update on the situation of human rights in the Tigray region of Ethiopia and on progress made in the context of the joint investigation undertaken by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission.

Second Week of the Session

At the beginning of the second week, the Council will hold a meeting on technical cooperation in protecting the human rights of vulnerable persons in and after the COVID-19 pandemic.  This will be followed by the High Commissioner’s oral update, and a presentation of reports on the activities of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras, and other reports and oral updates on Cyprus and Eritrea.  A general debate on item two of the agenda on the annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General will then be held.  The general debate will conclude on Tuesday, 8 March, and will be followed by an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights and an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children. 

On Wednesday, 9 March, the Council will hold its annual discussion on the rights of the child on the theme of the rights of the child and family reunification.  This will be followed by an interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on foreign debt and human rights.  The Council will start its work on Thursday, 10 March with a panel discussion on access to COVID-19 vaccines.  In the afternoon, it will hold separate interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion and belief, the Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy, and the Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment.  On Friday, 11 March, the Council will hold separate interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, and the Special Rapporteur on the right to food.

Third Week of the Session

The Council will start its third week with separate interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, whose report focuses on renditions.  In the afternoon, it will hold its annual debate on the rights of persons with disabilities with a focus on statistics and data collection under article 31 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.  On Tuesday, 15 March, the Council will hold an interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism.  It will then hear the presentation of the report of the open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights, followed by a general debate.  In the afternoon, the Council will hold separate interactive dialogues with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict. 

The general debate on agenda item three on the promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, will be held on Wednesday, 16 March, to be followed by an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context.  On Thursday, 17 March, the Council will open agenda item four on “country situations” and hold separate interactive dialogues on the reports of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Belarus; the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran; the oral update of the High Commissioner on Venezuela; and the oral update of the Fact-finding Mission on Venezuela.  Friday, 18 March will see separate interactive dialogues with the Commission on South Sudan, and the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic.  Towards the end of the day, there will be an enhanced interactive dialogue on the report of the Secretary-General on Myanmar, followed by an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Myanmar. 

Fourth Week of the Session

The Council will start the week with separate interactive dialogues on the High Commissioner’s report on Myanmar, and with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, followed by a general debate.  The general debate on item four on human rights situations that require the Council’s attention will start in the afternoon.  The Council will hold a panel on public policies on COVID-19 on Tuesday, 22 March, to be followed by the continuation of the general debate on item four.  The Council will then hold an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on minority issues.  This will be followed by hearing the presentation of the reports of the Forum on Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law; the Forum on Minority Issues; the Social Forum; the Secretary-General’s report on prevention; and the Coordinating Council of the Special Procedures, followed by a general debate on human rights bodies and mechanisms. 

On 23 and 24 March, the Council will consider the outcomes of the Universal Periodic Reviews of Greece, Suriname, Samoa, Hungary, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Papua New Guinea, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Eswatini, Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago, Thailand and Ireland.  On Thursday afternoon, the Council will hold a general debate on agenda item six on the Universal Periodic Review, and on Friday, 25 March, it will hear the presentation of reports by the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General under agenda item seven on the human rights situation in Palestine and other Occupied Arab Territories, followed by a general debate on item seven.  In the afternoon, it will hold a general debate on agenda item eight on follow-up to and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action.  This will be followed by the presentation of the report of the Working Group on the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, and a general debate on agenda item nine on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, follow-up to and implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. 

Fifth Week of the Session

The final week of the session will start with a debate on racial discrimination with the theme “voices for action against racism”, followed by the conclusion of the general debate on agenda item nine.  In the afternoon, it will start its consideration of agenda item 10 on technical assistance and capacity building with an enhanced interactive dialogue on the oral updates on the Democratic Republic of the Congo by the High Commissioner and by the Expert Team of Kasai.  It will then hold an interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on Mali.  On Tuesday, 29 March, the Council will hold separate interactive dialogues on the High Commissioner’s report on South Sudan; the oral update by the Special Rapporteur on Cambodia; the report of the Fact-finding Mission on Libya; and the oral report by the High Commissioner on Ukraine. 

A high-level interactive dialogue will be held on the human rights situation in the Central African Republic on Wednesday, 30 March.  This will be followed by the presentation of the High Commissioner’s country report on Afghanistan, her annual presentation on technical cooperation, and the presentation of the report of the Board of Trustees of Voluntary Fund Technical Cooperation.  A general debate on agenda item 10 will then be held. 

The Council will take action on decisions and resolutions on 30 March and 1 April, as well as appoint 11 new Special Procedure mandate holders and members of mechanisms of the Council, adopt the report of the session and close the session.

The Human Rights Council

The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system, made up of 47 States, which are responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe.  The Council was created by the United Nations General Assembly on 15 March 2006 with the main purpose of addressing situations of human rights violations and making recommendations on them.

The composition of the Human Rights Council at its forty-ninth session is as follows: Argentina (2024); Armenia (2022); Benin (2024); Bolivia; Brazil (2022); Cameroon (2024); China (2023); Côte d’Ivoire (2023); Cuba (2023); Eritrea (2024); Finland (2024); France (2023); Gabon (2023); Gambia (2024); Germany (2022); Honduras (2024); India (2024); Indonesia (2022); Japan (2022); Kazakhstan (2024); Libya (2022); Lithuania (2024); Luxembourg (2024); Malawi (2023); Malaysia (2024); Marshall Islands (2022); Mauritania (2022); Mexico (2023); Montenegro (2024); Namibia (2022); Nepal (2023); Netherlands (2022); Pakistan (2023); Paraguay (2024); Poland (2022); Qatar (2024); Republic of Korea (2022); Russian Federation (2023); Senegal (2023); Somalia (2024); Sudan (2022); Ukraine (2023); United Arab Emirates (2024); United Kingdom (2023); United States (2024); Uzbekistan (2023); and Venezuela (2022).

The term of membership of each State expires in the year indicated in parentheses.

The President of the Human Rights Council in 2022 is Federico Villegas (Argentina).  The four Vice-Presidents are Katharina Stasch (Germany), Tamim Baiou (Libya), Andranik Hovhannisyan (Armenia), and Ulugbek Lapasov (Uzbekistan).  Mr. Lapasov will serve as Rapporteur of the Geneva-based body.

The dates and venue of the forty-ninth session are subject to change.

Information on the forty-ninth session can be found here, including the annotated agenda and the reports to be presented.

For further information, please contact
Rolando Gomez (+41 22 917 9711- rolando.gomez@un.org);
Matthew Brown (+41 22 917 8366 – matthew.brown@un.org);
and Pascal Sim (+41 22 917 9763 – simp@un.org). 

Source: OHCHR