Adobe>
25 April 2023
The United Nations (UN) Committee on Enforced Disappearances completed the first draft of its very first General Comment (GC) – now out for consultation – on enforced disappearances in the context of migration.
The Geneva Human Rights Platform, supported by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, facilitated the drafting process by organizing a complementary informal one-week retreat for the Committee and additional background research support.
Barbara Lochbihler and Milica Kolakovic-Bojovic, Vice-Chairs of the Committee and Co-Rapporteurs of this GC are expecting the draft to go for adoption in the next session of the Committee, to be held in September this year.
‘The many substantive comments received during the first round of consultations on the concept note allowed us to incorporate the views of many states and other stakeholders into the current draft, and we look forward to further comments and engagement with stakeholders in the lead-up to our September session’ says Milica Kolakovic-Bojovic.
‘The most important work will start then, when we will take the document from Geneva to the regions, communicating its meaning, importance and potential use. It is at the national level where this document will become most meaningful, and of course in the constructive dialogues, when it will guide the Committee in its questions and recommendations’ underlines Barbara Lochbihler.
‘We are now working with the Committee and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights towards the dissemination of this new General Comment and will soon publish a short research brief outlining how General Comments, and this one in particular, can help to make a change on the ground’ explains Felix Kirchmeier, Executive Director of the Geneva Human Rights Platform.
UN Women
Via its DHRTTDs Directory, the Geneva Human Rights Platform provides a comprehensive list and description of such key tools and databases. But how to navigate them? Which tool should be used for what, and by whom? This interview helps us understand better the specificities of the May highlight of the directory: GenTRACK Arab States
Adobe
The Human Rights Data Revolution details the transformation which promises to enhance the effectiveness, inclusivity, and scope of human rights monitoring and implementation worldwide.
Adobe
This training course will examine how the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights have been utilized to advance the concept of business respect for human rights throughout the UN system, the impact of the Guiding Principles on other international organizations, as well as the impact of standards and guidance developed by these different bodies.
UN Photo / Jean-Marc Ferré
This training course will explore the origin and evolution of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and its functioning in Geneva and will focus on the nature of implementation of the UPR recommendations at the national level.
UN Photo / Jean-Marc Ferré
The Geneva Human Rights Platform contributes to this review process by providing expert input via different avenues, by facilitating dialogue on the review among various stakeholders, as well as by accompanying the development of a follow-up resolution to 68/268 in New York and in Geneva.