3. Your opportunities to engage

You can conduct advocacy activities and engage with the Human Rights Council without coming to Geneva. Below are some of the advocacy activities you can do from home.

Preparing for the Human Rights Council session

You can:

• Draft written statements and getting support/sign-on from other NGOs in your country

• Work with an NGO in Geneva, and have them deliver a statement on your issues, or submit a video statement.

• Provide information to NGOs in Geneva on your advocacy goals at that HRC session, asking them to do advocacy on your behalf

• Lobby embassies to present national statements, or resolutions

• Lobby your Ministry of Foreign Affairs (if your country is a Council member) to push them to adopt certain positions at the Council, vote a particular way, co-sponsor a resolution, or introduce a new resolution

Linking to and joining efforts

You can:

• Support Geneva-based advocacy, for example by lobbying your Ministry of Foreign Affairs and government or providing information to Geneva-based NGOs

• Work with media to draw attention to issues being dealt with at the Human Rights Council

• Participate in a side event via video conferencing

Following events at the Human Rights Council

You can:

• Watch live streaming of the Human Rights Council session on UN WebTV
• Follow events on Twitter through the HRC secretariat @UN_HRC account, Geneva-based NGOs like ISHR on @ISHRglobal, or the relevant hashtag for the session (e.g. #HRC63 for the 63 regular session of the Human Rights Council)
• Register to the newsletter of the Human Rights Council published by OHCHR

Now click on to the next section and test how much you've learnt in our quiz!