The 35th session of the Universal Periodic Review was held from 20 to 31 January 2020 in Palais des Nations in Geneva. The UPR is a mechanism of the Human Rights Council which evaluates UN member states every four years and provides the state with recommendations to improve human rights conditions.
Through the UPR Platform, CCIG provides a space for dialogue and discussion between NGOs to promote a more coordinated joint work and to improve their contribution within the frame of this specific mechanism established by the UN Human Rights Council.
Out of the fourteen states reviewed during the 35th UPR session, CCIG attended the Sessions of Spain, Lesotho, Kenya and Kiribati, where members of CCIG Platform have actively participated in the UPR process.
At the UPR session for Spain which took place on 24 January, States submitted several recommendations. Spain is called to ratify the International Convention on the protection of the rights of all migrant workers and their families.
In accordance with recommendations raised by CCIG members, several interventions also pertained to take further measures to ensure that the right to freedom of expression are fully respected and to investigate cases of disproportionate actions of police officers against participants of public demonstrations.
Other recommendations included to take measures to prevent and combat human trafficking, to guarantee equal access to health care, to increase efforts to integrate persons with disabilities into society and to continue effortsrelated to discrimination against Roma and Gypsy populations. For further information, on key issues raised by CCIG members, please consult IIMA and VIDES Joint submission here.
With regard to Kenya’s session, several States recommended to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography and to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture as well as the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (ICRMW).
Other proposed recommendations concerned the abolition of death penalty and the eradication of the practice of the female genital mutilation in accordance with some recommendations raised by CCIG members. For more information please consult ERI, Pax Romana and Franciscans International Joint submission here.
Regarding Lesotho’s session, several States recommended the establishment of Human Rights National Institution in compliance with the Paris Principles. Some States highlighted the importance of stepping up efforts to prevent and combat human trafficking as highlighted by CCIG members. For further information please consult IIMA and VIDES Joint submission here.
With regard to the review of Kiribati, the main recommendations were on intensifying efforts to combat violence against women and promote gender equality as well as to adopt norms that will guarantee to LGBT persons the full enjoyment of their rights on the basis of equality in all spheres, as raised by CCIG members. For further information of the key issues raised by CCIG members, please consult the Joint submission of Edmund Rice International, Franciscans International and CCIA here.
For further information on the work of CCIG UPR Platform, click here.