Human Rights

Over the course of six years, and in response to successive mandates from the Human Rights Council, OHCHR’s Accountability and Remedy Project developed guidance on how to enhance the effectiveness of the three categories of remedial mechanisms covered in the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. For each category of mechanism, OHCHR spent two years consulting with those who use, design, and administer the mechanism, among others, to identify good-practice lessons, resulting in a set of reports presented to the Human Rights Council. This publication compiles the guidance and explanatory notes from those reports focusing on judicial mechanisms

This interpretive guide provides additional background explanation on the principles of the access to remedy pillar of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights so as to support a full understanding of their meaning and intent. It aims to equip all actors, whether specialist or non-specialist, with the knowledge and insights needed for more productive engagement and advocacy in relation to access to remedy for business and human rights harms in a wide range of contexts.

This Facilitator’s Guide is intended to support trainers wishing to introduce the protection of the human rights of migrants to State officials on the African continent. The content is organized into four main modules, allowing each module to be used in isolation, or in combination with others depending on the need. The first module focuses on international law as the foundation of relations between States, and between States and individuals. It provides an overview of key human rights instruments, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and their accountability mechanisms. Part of the emphasis of this module is on the historical evolution of the international legal system, and the thinking that led to the human rights instruments that followed the wars of the early 20th century. Subsequent modules address State authority in migration management, covering the admission of non-nationals and nationals returning home, as well as the detention and expulsion of those who are non-compliant with the requirements of entry or stay. Each of these is juxtaposed against a succession of individual human rights to facilitate understanding of the parametres of the State’s authority. Sections and subsections generally begin with a case study challenge to help participants focus on a specific tension between State authority and a human rights obligation in the migration context, followed by lecture notes for facilitators and a review of relevant case law and judicial reasoning. By using this Guide, trainers will be equipped to support officials in Africa in bridging the gap between the aspirations and principles of the United Nations Charter, international and regional human rights obligations, and the complexities of managing migration.

The Report of the Secretary-General on the Work of the Organization (A/80/1) is issued in response to Article 98 of the UN Charter and highlights how the UN Secretariat translates resources into impact. The Report covers nine sections: (i) forging pathways for sustainable development; (ii) fostering peace and security; (iii) propelling African growth; (iv) upholding human rights; (v) securing humanitarian assistance; (vi) advancing justice and international law; (vii) championing disarmament; (viii) combating drugs, crime and terrorism; and (ix) enhancing our operations. The e-book for this publication has been converted into an accessible format for the visually impaired and people with print reading disabilities. It is fully compatible with leading screen-reader technologies such as JAWS and NVDA.

Early in the children and armed conflict (CAAC) agenda, the Denial of Humanitarian Access (DHA) to children was identified as a critical issue affecting children in conflict areas and other situations of violence. Over the years, cases of the DHA, as reported through MRM, on grave violations against children in situations of armed conflict have been steadily on the rise. DHA is one of the six grave violations the United Nations is monitoring through the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) as established by the Security Council resolution 1612 (2005). Between 2005 and 2024, more than 30,000 DHA incidents have been verified. DHA, as defined within the CAAC agenda, and as specified in this document, does not exist in a vacuum but is informed by a comprehensive body of international legal norms and standards designed to protect the rights and well-being of children in times of conflict, including international humanitarian law and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This Guidance Note results from extensive consultations with field staff and partners involved in the MRM. This document provides specific and practical guidance to field colleagues involved in MRM implementation. It helps identify incidents to be verified through the monitoring and reporting of DHA violations, including attribution as mandated by the Security Council. The guidance is to ensure coherence and consistency in verifying and reporting on DHA within the CAAC agenda. It endeavours to devise a global approach that is applicable across all situations of concern on the CAAC agenda while concurrently recognizing and accommodating the specificities inherent to each unique context.

This report, the third dedicated to Goal 16 progress, brings together contributions from all UN custodian agencies in a single, comprehensive document. It presents the best regional and global data available across all SDG16 targets that the UN system can offer. The data, statistics and accompanying analysis spotlight trends that have and will continue to shape our world, policy pathways and underscore the urgent need for action to reverse negative trends and to foster a more just and sustainable future. The report was joint produced by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

This revised edition of the Expanded Pocketbook forms part of OHCHR’s updated “Human Rights and Law Enforcement Guidance and Training Package”. The training package also includes a Manual on Human Rights Training for Law Enforcement Officials and a Training Guide on Human Rights for Law Enforcement Officials, in addition to presentation slides corresponding to each chapter of the Manual. The Expanded Pocketbook is designed to be a readily accessible and portable reference tool for law enforcement officials. It can be further tailored to a particular law enforcement agency’s local context. The international standards can, for example, be complemented with references to national law, internal policies or standard operating procedures. The Expanded Pocketbook contains hundreds of point-form standards and recommendations, organized according to law enforcement duties, functions and topics.