{"id":5520,"date":"2016-06-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-06-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.conectas.org.inf.br\/wp\/noticias\/a-meaningful-human-rights-council-in-2030-catalyse-national-rights-protection\/"},"modified":"2021-04-19T14:21:36","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T14:21:36","slug":"a-meaningful-human-rights-council-in-2030-catalyse-national-rights-protection","status":"publish","type":"noticia","link":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/a-meaningful-human-rights-council-in-2030-catalyse-national-rights-protection\/","title":"A meaningful Human Rights Council in 2030: Catalyse national rights protection","content":"

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By\u00a0Camila Asano (Conectas), Gabriela Kletzel (CELS, Argentina), Daniela Quintanilla (Corporaci\u00f3n Humanas, Chile) and Paulo de Tarso Arantes (Representante das organiza\u00e7\u00f5es em Genebra)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rather than celebrating the 10th\u00a0anniversary of the UN Human Rights Council, we should take a moment to reflect upon what must be improved. This applies not only to States but also to civil society. Social actors may not make decisions, but they do influence decision-making processes and have long-standing experience in working to promote and protect human rights on the ground.<\/p>\n

In our case, we are three human rights organisations based in Latin America that combine strong national work with international advocacy and litigation both in regional and international human rights systems. Our work regarding the Council in the past 10 years has sought to contribute to reducing the distance between on-the-ground violations and the debates and decisions made in Geneva. In 2011, we established a joint representation in Geneva to have a collaborative platform of action before the Council and other relevant UN bodies and mechanisms.<\/p>\n

We believe that a meaningful Council should bolster its capacity for catalysing national efforts; keep the human rights flame alight by strengthening its presence in relevant global debates; increase social participation; and call for more responsible and accountable Member States.<\/p>\n

Addressing situations on the ground<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The\u00a0Council\u2019s effectiveness in 2030 will be measured by the extent to which it addresses situations on the ground.\u00a0Hence,\u00a0we hope the Council will reinforce its role as a catalyst to national efforts\u00a0that advance\u00a0human rights.<\/p>\n

For instance, in November 2015, the\u00a0UN\u00a0Special Rapporteurs\u00a0on\u00a0toxic waste, environment<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0water and sanitation<\/a>\u00a0took decisive and\u00a0timely action\u00a0on the disaster following the\u00a0burst\u00a0of an\u00a0iron-ore waste dam\u00a0owned by\u00a0the companies\u00a0Vale\/BHP\/Samarco\u00a0in Brazil. This caused pollution along 800 kilometers of\u00a0the\u00a0Doce River, 19\u00a0deaths,\u00a0and\u00a0a long-term\u00a0impact\u00a0on\u00a0the lives of\u00a0one million\u00a0other people.\u00a0Local communities\u00a0and civil society groups\u00a0demanded that those responsible be held accountable and that victims receive proper attention\u00a0and reparations.\u00a0The Rapporteurs\u2019\u00a0involvement\u00a0contributed to shifting\u00a0the domestic dynamics and narratives in place, which had been marked by\u00a0the authorities\u2019 inertia\u00a0and\u00a0by\u00a0the\u00a0notion\u00a0that this was an\u00a0unfortunate\u00a0accident\u2014instead of a clear case of corporate\u00a0irresponsibility and insufficient State oversight that caused significant\u00a0social-environmental\u00a0damage.<\/p>\n

Much more is still needed, but this is a good example of how\u00a0actions taken within the Council\u00a0framework\u00a0can\u00a0serve\u00a0to fuel local efforts to denounce abuses,\u00a0and\u00a0we believe in the importance of intensifying\u00a0the Council\u2019s mechanisms\u00a0in that direction.<\/p>\n

Putting human rights in the center of global discussions<\/strong><\/h5>\n

At the same time, a meaningful Council should strengthen its role as a key player in formulating international policies and discussing new perspectives. It should keep the human rights flame burning by stressing the importance of human rights law in issues of global interest, among other actions.<\/p>\n

An important initiative of this type was the unprecedented discussion on drug policies and human rights, which prompted a comprehensive\u00a0Report by the High Commissioner<\/a>\u00a0and a panel at the 30th\u00a0Council session, broadening the focus of the discussions held by the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs and other UN bodies in preparation for the UNGASS 2016.\u00a0For the UN to speak as one, any global debate disregarding the Council will remain incomplete, and thus out of touch. Moreover, the Council must keep the issue of drug policy on its agenda in the coming years since its human rights impacts are innumerable.<\/p>\n

Increasing broad social participation<\/strong><\/h5>\n

A strong Council should also take greater stock of the ever more plural and diversified nature of social actors. Thus, greater attention should be paid to those facing challenges of all sorts to be present in Geneva and to work with the Council from the ground. Remote participation and other innovative solutions are tasks for the present that will help build a more participatory Council in the future.<\/p>\n

Often the distance between the Council and local societies is exacerbated by the fact that there is little dissemination of what States are discussing in Geneva. Even worse, social actors on the ground frequently struggle to find out what positions their own representatives are taking in forums like the Council. Lack of State accountability on foreign policy should also be targeted since Member and Observer States have a fundamental responsibility in designing an effective and responsive Council by 2030.<\/p>\n

Our reflection on what needs to be improved stems from our desire to see more bridges built between the Council and local realities and to ensure that more diverse voices are heard in Geneva. That way, this body committed to ending abuses and advancing the promotion and protection of human rights may be truly effective.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to see the original.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div>","excerpt":"

Article by Camila Asano, Gabriela Kletzel, Daniela Quintanilla and Paulo de Tarso Arantes on ISRH<\/p>\n","author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[32],"tags":[12741,358],"tema":[12277],"class_list":["post-5520","noticia","type-noticia","status-publish","hentry","category-clipping","tag-article","tag-camila-asano-en","tema-institutional"],"acf":{"author":false,"subtitle-pt":"Article by Camila Asano, Gabriela Kletzel, Daniela Quintanilla and Paulo de Tarso Arantes on ISRH"},"yoast":{"focuskw":"","title":"","metadesc":"","linkdex":"","metakeywords":"","meta-robots-noindex":"","meta-robots-nofollow":"","meta-robots-adv":"","canonical":"","redirect":"","opengraph-title":"","opengraph-description":"","opengraph-image":"","twitter-title":"","twitter-description":"","twitter-image":""},"featured_image":[],"terms":{"acoes_categorias":[],"acoes_tags":[],"category":[{"term_id":32,"name":"Opinion editorial","slug":"clipping","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":32,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":74,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0","permalink":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/category\/clipping\/","relative_link":"category\/clipping\/","langs":{"en":"clipping","br":"clipping-pt"}}],"post_tag":[{"term_id":12741,"name":"article","slug":"article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":12741,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":12,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0","permalink":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/tag\/article\/","relative_link":"tag\/article\/","langs":{"en":"article","br":null}},{"term_id":358,"name":"Camila Asano","slug":"camila-asano-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":358,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":31,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0","permalink":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/tag\/camila-asano-en\/","relative_link":"tag\/camila-asano-en\/","langs":{"en":"camila-asano-en","br":"camila-asano"}}]},"author_name":"Leonardo Medeiros","author_nicename":"leonardo-medeiros","protected":false,"langs":{"en":"a-meaningful-human-rights-council-in-2030-catalyse-national-rights-protection","br":"agenda-2030-por-um-conselho-de-direitos-humanos-que-priorize-a-protecao-nacional-de-direitos"},"permalink":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/a-meaningful-human-rights-council-in-2030-catalyse-national-rights-protection\/","relative_url":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/a-meaningful-human-rights-council-in-2030-catalyse-national-rights-protection\/","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/noticias\/5520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/noticias"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/noticia"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5520"},{"taxonomy":"tema","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tema?post=5520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}