24 March 2016: The 31st session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) concluded in Geneva, Switzerland, with UN representatives and advisors expressing concern over the arbitrary detention of refugees and migrants to Europe, the homelessness crisis worldwide, and the impacts of inequality on human rights. Panel discussions during the three-week session addressed ways to mainstream human rights in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and closer cooperation with climate actors on the right to health, among other issues.
On the closing day, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein raised concern regarding the agreement between the EU and Turkey on processing of migrants and refugees. He stated that the language of the agreement presents a risk of overlooking human rights obligations, and does not allow for consideration of individual protection needs, for example, in the case of children, and of victims of rape and torture.
Zeid’s round-up of human rights failures and successes around the world included ongoing conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Iraq, elections in Burkina Faso and the Central African Republic, the Zika virus crisis in the context of sexual violence in Latin America, and arrests and sedition charges against journalists and political opponents in China and Malaysia. Zeid announced that the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) may create new regional hubs and field offices to bring the agency “closer to the ground,” but to date, extra-budgetary contributions from Member States fall short of the US$217 million needed to do so.
In her report to the HRC, Leilani Farha, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, drew attention to the social exclusion aspects of homelessness, and called for addressing this not only as a social policy issue but also a human rights violation. She urged governments to: eliminate the practice of forced evictions; ensure homeless people have access to legal remedies; provide social protection for vulnerable populations; regulate property speculation; and give special attention to the situation of women, persons with disabilities, and migrants and refugees.
On 29 February, a high-level panel on human rights mainstreaming discussed how the UN system can support “a human rights-sensitive implementation” of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Kate Gilmore, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, moderated the half-day event, which featured Zamir Akram, Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on the Right to Development and former Permanent Representative of Pakistan, alongside high-level representatives of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), UN Women and UNAIDS.
On 3 March, Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), delivered a keynote address during a panel discussion on climate change and the right to health. Panelists from a national health agency, a university, and an indigenous people’s organization, alongside Dainius Pūras, Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, considered the challenges of combating the adverse effects of climate change on health. Participants discussed the added value of rights-based approaches to tackling climate change-related health impacts, and identified points of entry for greater collaboration with the UNFCCC and other stakeholders. The panel discussion sought to inform an OHCHR analytical study on climate change and the right to health.
On 15 March, Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, UN Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights, presented his report to the HRC. He highlighted income and wealth inequality, and their contribution to sovereign debt, and presented policy recommendations for targeting economic inequality as a human rights issue and a factor contributing to the emergence of financial crises.
Other events that took place during the three-week HRC session include: the annual interactive debate on the rights of persons with disabilities, which addressed situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies; the annual full-day meeting on the rights of the child, which focused on information and communications technology (ICT) and child sexual exploitation; and a panel discussion on the human rights dimensions of preventing and countering violent extremism. [OHCHR Press Release on EU-Turkey Agreement] [OHCHR Press Release on Report by Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein] [OHCHR Press Release on Statement by Leilani Farha] [Press Release on Report by Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky] [31st Session Webpage]