Sri Lanka on agenda at 51st UNHRC Session - Here's What you need to know

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Human Rights Council will hold its fifty-first regular session from 12 September to 7 October at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

Nada Al-Nashif, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, currently serving as acting High Commissioner, will present the High Commissioner’s oral update on Monday, 12th September.

Under agenda item two 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, the Council will hold separate interactive dialogues on the report of the Office of the High Commissioner on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka.

In addition, the following reports will also be taken up:

The report of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar on the situation of human rights of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar.

The report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan.

The High Commissioner’s report on the promotion and protection of human rights in Nicaragua.

At an organizational meeting held on 30 August in preparation for the session, the President of the Council, Federico Villegas, bid farewell to High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, whose term of office ended on 31st August.  

States will have a chance to respond to the High Commissioner’s update and to other reports presented under agenda item two in the general debate on 13th and 14th September.

The Council will take action on draft decisions and resolutions on 6th and 7th October, and will also appoint a number of Special Procedure mandate holders before closing the session.  

During the four-week session, the Council will hold five panel discussions on the right to development (15 September); the integration of a gender perspective throughout the work of the Human Rights Council and that of its mechanisms (26 September); the right to work in connection with climate change actions, responses and impacts in the context of sustainable and inclusive economies (27 September); the rights of indigenous peoples on the theme “Impact of social and economic recovery plans in the COVID-19 context on indigenous peoples, with a special focus on food security” (28 September); and on the negative impact of the legacies of colonialism on the enjoyment of human rights (28 September).