Human Rights

  • At Switzerland’s invitation, members of the Security Council visited Geneva on 25 and 26 August to mark the 75th anniversary of the 1949 Geneva Conventions. (For background information, see our 25 August What’s in Blue story.) On the afternoon of the informal visit’s...

  • At Switzerland’s invitation, members of the Security Council visited Geneva on 25 and 26 August to mark the 75th anniversary of the 1949 Geneva Conventions. (For background information, see our 25 August What’s in Blue story.) The informal visit of...

  • At Switzerland’s invitation, members of the Security Council are visiting Geneva today and tomorrow (25 and 26 August) to mark the 75th anniversary of the 1949 Geneva Conventions. According to a concept note prepared by Switzerland, the objective of this...

  • On 12 August, the Geneva Conventions turn 75. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has described these foundational treaties in international humanitarian law (IHL) as “one of humanity’s most important accomplishments of the last century.” In recent years, blatant disregard for IHL has been a feature of conflicts around the world, including several on the Council’s agenda. For the Security Council, the anniversary offers a time for sombre and sober reflection.

  • Tomorrow morning (17 August), the Security Council is expected to convene for an open briefing on the human rights situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) under the agenda item “The situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of...

  • Tomorrow afternoon (20 March), Security Council members will hold an Arria-formula meeting on “Integrating the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex (LGBTI) Persons into the Council’s Mandate for Maintaining International Peace and Security”. The meeting is being...

  • Tomorrow (9 December), following the briefing and closed consultations on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Security Council members will discuss the human rights situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) under “any other business”, a standing...

  • More recently, and particularly in the past decade, the Council has expressed itself more frequently on humanitarian affairs, including in politically difficult environments. The proliferation of humanitarian crises in country situations on the Council’s agenda has undeniably contributed to this development.

  • Tomorrow morning (7 July) the Security Council will hold an open VTC under the agenda item “United Nations peacekeeping operations” on the topic of peace operations and human rights. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, German Federal Minister of Defence, will chair the meeting....

  • July 2020

    Peace Operations and Human Rights 

    Monthly Forecast

    As one of the four signature events of its presidency, Germany is organising an open debate on “United Nations peacekeeping operations: Peace Operations and Human Rights”.

  • On Monday (11 March), France and Peru will co-host an Arria-formula meeting on “Human rights, accountability and justice: contributions to international peace and security”. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs Miguel de Serpa Soares, and former President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) Theodor Meron, will brief Council members. This will mark the first time Bachelet has briefed Council members in her current capacity.

  • In March, an event took place that has raised a number of questions about the relationship of the Security Council with the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

  • This afternoon (19 March), the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, is expected to brief the Council on the human rights situation in Syria. The meeting was requested by France, with the support of the Netherlands, Peru,...

  • Tomorrow (20 December), the Security Council will hold an open debate on the theme “addressing complex contemporary challenges to international peace and security” at the initiative of Council president Japan. Secretary-General António Guterres will brief. The debate is expected to...

  • 17 April 2017

    Human Rights Briefing

    What's in Blue

    Tomorrow afternoon (Tuesday, 18 April), the Council is expected to hold a public meeting, in briefing format, under the title “Maintenance of international peace and security: human rights and prevention of armed conflict”. Secretary-General António Guterres is expected to brief....