IPU applauds Human Rights Council boost for cooperation with parliaments

Press Release by the IPU Secretariat in Geneva on 23 June 2017

On 23 June, the UN Human Rights Council adopted without a vote a resolution in support of stronger cooperation with parliaments.

The resolution encourages States to involve parliaments in all stages of the Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR), under which the Council examines the human rights situation of each UN Member State.

The resolution requests the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to prepare a study, in close cooperation with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), on how to promote and enhance synergies between the parliaments and the work of the Human Rights Council and its UPR. The results of the study will be presented to the Council in 2018.

The adoption of the resolution is the culmination of a series of efforts, spearheaded by a core group of countries in the Council and the IPU, to bring parliaments and the Council closer together.

The IPU deeply appreciates the unwavering support from the core group to promote stronger engagement with parliaments. The IPU looks forward to working ever more closely with the Council and OHCHR in support of stronger ties between the Council and parliaments.

“The Council is ever more interested in ensuring that its work leads to concrete impact on the ground. Teaming up with parliaments makes good sense if we want people to really benefit from what happens in Geneva,” explained IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong.