Summary Note 15 (December 2023)
This Summary presents the discussions held, in person and online, during the 16th session of the EMRIP, July 17 to 21, 2023.
To be a Docip volunteer involves putting one’s skills at the service of indigenous delegates during their participation in the UN arena.
These bodies are committees of independent experts that are mandated to monitor the States' implementation of the international legal instruments they have ratified. In fact, following ratification of a legal instrument, the State is required to submit periodic reports to the relevant committee. This committee then reviews these reports and makes concluding observations and recommendations, and the State must then commit to follow these recommendations. Members of civil society may send shadow reports related to the State's report on the human rights situation. Although there is no specific committee for Indigenous Peoples, they are also invited to work with the treaty bodies and to participate in the submission of reports.
These committees are called human rights treaty bodies because each one is attached to a specific international legal text. There are 10 treaty bodies in all; each is listed below, along with the legal instrument with which it is associated:
Established by resolution A/Res/60/251 of 3 April 2006, the Human Rights Council replaces the Commission on Human Rights. It is the principal body of the United Nations in matters relating to human rights. The secretariat of the Council is secured by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
The main features of the Human Rights Council are:
Established by United Nations General Assembly resolution 60/251 in 2006, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a mechanism of the Human Rights Council (HRC). Every four and a half years, various countries come before the UPR to assess the human rights situation within their national territory. Before appearing before the UPR, the State must submit a report on the situation of human rights in their country, as well as on the relevant initiatives and commitments it has made over recent years. Members of civil society are also invited to submit a shadow report. At the end of each review, a report is made public in which several recommendations are made to the State in question. The commitment and participation of civil society members and Indigenous Peoples are important in the follow-up to these recommendations. On the UPR's official website you will find all report documents submitted by States and civil society, as well as the recommendations made by the UPR.
