The Human Rights Council (HRC) has many different elements that overlap and combine to support the work of defenders.
This section outlines the functions of the HRC and highlights practical ways it can support you in your work.
Think of the Council as a single tool with many elements or purposes. Some elements can be used more frequently and provide broad protections, other elements are more niche that are very useful in specific circumstances, but are less widely used.
Examples of specialist elements of the Council are: the Complaints Mechanism (which looks into grave and systematic human rights violations and is completely confidential) and the Advisory Committee (which the Council can ask to research an issue and make recommendations, but is made up of experts who are nominated by Governments).
The Council examines human rights issues in-depth via a combination of written reports, panels, and the experts (‘Special Procedures’) it mandates to examine different human rights issues and situations.
The Council raises an alarm about urgent human rights crisis through its special sessions. These provide a space for States to come together to agree on a concrete action or response.
The Human Rights Council provides inspiration. It is a place to hear and make connections with like-minded people and get new ideas by finding out what other human rights defenders are doing.
The Council can provide protection through greater awareness of an issue. When States or the President of the Council highlight individual cases, this can make the people and communities concerned safer. However be mindful that this protection is limited - the Council cannot offer physical or digital safety guarantees for human rights defenders, nor can a State protect you against another.
The Council provides a history by documenting and archiving stories and human rights situations. This collective memory amplifies the voice of defenders and can be used in the future to hold those responsible for human rights violations and abuses accountable.
There's much more information to come on how the Human Rights Council can be used to strengthen your advocacy.
If you want to already check if there might be another mechanism better suited to your needs, you can use the document below to quickly compare the Council to other UN human rights mechanisms.
Through this learning module we will show in detail how to make the Human Rights Council your go to tool to support you in your vital work.
