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.

Find out more about the Human Rights Council and what it does in the video below (subtitles available clicking on the parameters)

A PDF of the Transcript is available here.

Time estimated to complete chapter 1 : 40 min

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

Learn more

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

African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights

Explore the main human rights protection system in Africa and learn how to advocate in this unique space!

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