Our Activities at the 49th Human Rights Council
The 49th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) took place from 28 February until 1 April 2022 at the UN headquarters in Geneva. After several council sessions held online or in a hybrid mode due to the pandemic, this was the first HRC to be resumed in-person for civil society who were allowed back into the building to participate in negotiations, debates and dialogues at the Palais de Nations. This session was also strongly coined by the invasion of Ukraine which led to an extra-ordinary urgent debate to be held during the council’s ordinary 4-week schedule.
This council brought with it some important developments for economic, social, cultural and environmental (ESCE) rights, with new resolutions on COVID-19 recovery, the right to housing, the right to food, the right to work, and cultural rights. Moreover, several Special Procedure mandates working on ESCE rights have presented their thematic reports during the council.
GI-ESCR’s Activities at the Council
View from the Palais de Nations onto the Broken Chair in Geneva: a statute commemorating victims of landmines.
As the HRC resumed its in-person activities, we used this opportunity to participate in this council’s session on the ground as well as digitally to strengthen the narrative around public services, fiscal justice and a gender-just green transition.
Resolutions
We actively participated in the informal negotiations of three resolutions at the council, all of which were approved by the council.
The resolution on “adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and the right to non-discrimination in this context” was tabled by the core group of Finland, Germany, Brazil, and Namibia. The resolution was adopted without a vote and can be accessed here. Throughout the consultations, GI-ESCR has pushed for stronger wording around public housing as a key tool to combat discrimination within the housing sector.
The resolution on the right to work was tabled by the core group of Egypt, Greece, Indonesia, Mexico, and Romania. The resolution had a specific focus on just transitions and the right to work. GI-ESCR has worked on including language around gender-just green transitions during the informal consultations. The resolution was adopted without a vote and can be accessed here.
The resolution on promoting and protecting economic, social and cultural rights within the context of addressing inequalities in the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic was tabled by China, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Egypt, Pakistan, and South Africa. Due to some language disagreements, specifically around the expression “inequality within and among States”, the resolution was adopted by vote with 31 affirmatives, 14 rejections, and 2 abstentions. The resolution may be accessed here. GI-ESCR pushed for the inclusion of public services as quintessential for the COVID-19 recovery. We were happy to see that the resolution has indeed some new and important language, acknowledging that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ESC rights is a structural consequence to the decade-long underfed and dismantled public services.
Oral Statements
Juliette Wyss, UNTB Focal Point, delivering the statement
In light of the new report on non-toxic environments by the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to a safe, clean and healthy environment, GI-ESCR presented an oral statement during the interactive dialogue with the Rapporteur. The statement focused on the importance to move away from fossil fuel energy and towards clean green energy. In this light, the participation of women and girls is crucial to ensure that the transition is not only green, but also just.
Side Events
This session, GI-ESCR’s Executive Director, Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona, moderated two high-level events at the council:
Inter-sessional seminar on the negative impact of funds of illicit origin: This event was an inter-sessional seminar on the negative impact of the non-repatriation of funds of illicit origin to the countries of origin on the enjoyment of human rights. For more information on the outcomes of the session, click here.
Side Event on universal social protection: This event was organised by the governments of Belgium and Morocco and strengthened the message that social protection systems have demonstrated their value during the COVID-19 pandemic, saving lives and backstopping economies at large. To learn more about what was discussed, click here.
What’s next?
The 50th session of the Human Rights Council will be held between 13 June and 8 July 2022. Organisations and partners wishing to engage with GI-ESCR in light of the council should get in touch with us.