Resources and Tools

This publication is useful for those who wish to learn more about the Human Rights Council and how it functions as an institution, including political dimensions. It explains the structures, procedures and mechanisms of the Human Rights Council, illustrating each point with examples drawn from Council practice.

English Version. Available in English and French.

A guide to international law obligations to respect, protect and fulfill the right of all persons to participate in public affairs by engaging in criticism, opposition and dissent. This guide explains the international legal standards, principles, and jurisprudence protecting the rights to dissent and protest as essential human rights. It provides activists, human rights defenders, jurists, NGOs, corporate actors, and government authorities with the tools and knowledge necessary to ensure rights, protect the lives and liberty of dissenters, enable meaningful participation in public life, and promote the rule of law.

Providing women human rights defenders with the tools to document their experience and that of colleagues. This resource aims to generate awareness about violations and abuses against defenders and support demands for human rights change, it also outlines why documentation of their experience is important.

How can human rights defenders effectively engage businesses to promote corporate respect for human rights? The publication provides an overview to human rights defenders of the legal and policy frameworks, and government and corporate trends relating to the protection of human rights within the context of business.

English Version. Available in English, French and Spanish.

This resource provides an overview of the UN human rights treaty body system and the different ways human rights defenders can make use of it to further their human rights causes. The guide also provides information on the relationship between the treaty bodies and other UN human rights mechanisms, relevant developments related to the harmonisation of the working methods of the treaty bodies, and a glossary and e-resources for further reference.

English Version. Available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French and Spanish.

This Guide considers strategies and tactics that NGOs can use to contribute to the implementation of UN recommendations at the national level. The Guide is intended for a diverse audience, working in different countries and sectors, and with different areas of focus and expertise. It outlines a range of strategies with a view to NGOs identifying those which are most appropriate to their domestic political, legal, economic, and social contexts and their organisation’s goals, resources, and working methods.

This resource outlines a programme through which civil society organisations (CSOs) can maximise their impact while engaging with the African Commission for Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR). It provides information, describes challenges and shares tips based on concrete experiences by CSOs working with the ACHPR. The Road Map provides a user-friendly step-by-step 'tour' of each phase of the engagement process, including post-implementation follow-up.

English Version. Available in English and French.

This resource aims to enhance understanding of, and sensitivity to, the specific issues and situations confronted by women human rights defenders (WHRD). It was written in response to calls for a documentation system on violations and abuses against WHRD, to develop protection mechanisms of their needs. This guidebook is intended to be of use to WHRD themselves as part of a continuous process of acknowledging, validating, and transforming their practical experiences and insights into a body of knowledge, theories and tools for use by them and by others.

This resource is a practical guide on how States should consult human rights defenders in the development of National Action Plans (NAPs) and ensure that NAPs include protections for human rights defenders. The publication contains a checklist for how States ought to engage defenders in NAP development, as well as a template of questions which States ought to incorporate into their National Baseline Assessments prior to NAP development, in order to assess and develop policies which impact on the protection of human rights defenders.

English Version. Available in English, French, German and Spanish.

This resource explains the important role of the Third Committee, its purpose and how it operates. It is aimed to increase understanding by civil society, especially human rights defenders and activists, of the Third Committee's crucial work for human rights. The Third Committee is a key part of the UN human rights architecture. It suffers from a lack of civil society engagement which could be improved through greater transparency and understanding of its work, procedures and opportunities for inputs.

English Version. Available in English, French and Spanish.