The main outputs of the regular sessions of the Human Rights Council are:
This section focuses on the second output:
At the Human Rights Council, governments can make statements that express a position vis-à-vis a particular human rights issue or a human rights situation in another country.
A statement can be made by a single State, or several governments can deliver a joint statement.
For example:
Joint Statement on the operations of the Human Rights Council setting out objective criteria to determine when the Council should take action on a particular country situation
[Joint statement on the Ocean and Human Rights] (https://hrcmeetings.ohchr.org/HRCSessions/HRCDocuments/77/SP/77_18841901_742f1007-c1f7-46ee-978c-09724e35981b.docx) highlighting the importance of protecting the ocean and other bodies of water and their biodiversity in order to protect the full enjoyment of the right to a clean and healthy environment, among others.
Statements are not as strong as resolutions, as they do not have the authority to request the UN to take action or contribute resources. But they are a way of getting the Council to pay attention to issues that are not on the agenda, and are often a necessary step for further action by the UN.
For more information on Government Statements, including examples and how you can influence the process, see ISHR Academy: Government Statements – Why are they useful?
Go to the previous section to find out more about another tool of the Human Right Council - Resolutions.
In the next section, we will reflect again on the strengths and weaknesses of the Human Rights Council.
