1. Understanding the Human Rights Council

1.2 The Basics

The Human Rights Council is the main body within the UN system which is responsible for “promoting universal respect for the protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms” for everyone.

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In the next section, we'll find out more about how the Human Rights Council can be useful to advocates.

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Special Procedures

Explore the purpose and mandates of the Special Procedures and how you can work with them to strengthen your advocacy

Person walking up to the UN building in Geneva

Accessing the UN

Learn how to access UN human rights mechanisms – when you need accreditation, when you don’t

Treaty Bodies

Discover how the UN Treaty Bodies work and how you can use them to increase the impact of your advocacy

The International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) is an independent, non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting and protecting human rights. We achieve this by supporting human rights defenders, strengthening human rights systems, and leading and participating in coalitions for human rights change.

This website was developed and built by Atticmedia with the generous support from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom and of the Canadian Government. The contents of this website are the sole responsibility of the authors and cannot be regarded as reflecting the views of the project sponsors.

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1. Understanding the Human Rights Council