Call for submissions | Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council, Treaty Bodies, Subsidiary Bodies and Office of the High Commissioner

Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council

The special procedures of the Human Rights Council are independent human rights experts with mandates to report and advise on human rights from a thematic or country-specific perspective. They are non-paid and elected for 3-year mandates that can be reconducted for another three years. As of October 2021, there are 45 thematic and 13 country mandates.

With the support of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), special procedures:

• undertake country visits
• act on individual cases of reported violations and concerns of a broader nature by sending communications to States and others
• conduct annual thematic studies, seek information from calls for input and convene expert consultations
• contribute to the development of international human rights standards, and
• engage in advocacy, raise public awareness, and provide advice for technical cooperation.

Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment

The Human Rights Council established the mandate for the Independent Expert on human rights and the environment in 2012 (resolution 19/10). The mandate on human rights and the environment exists to:

• examine the human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
• promote best practices of the use of human rights in environmental policymaking
• identify challenges and obstacles to the global recognition and implementation of the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
• Conduct country visits and respond to human rights violations

In March 2018, the Human Rights Council further extended the mandate (resolution 37/8) and appointed David R. Boyd as the Special Rapporteur for three years. In March 2021 the Human Rights Council extended the mandate for another three years (resolution 46/7). His career has included serving as the executive director of Ecojustice, appearing before the Supreme Court of Canada, and working as a special advisor on sustainability for Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin.

Calls for submissions

Call for inputs: “Should the interests of foreign investors trump the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment?”

In recent decades, thousands of bilateral and multilateral trade and investment treaties have been negotiated by States. The overwhelming majority of these treaties include Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanisms, which enable foreign investors to sue States for taking actions that adversely affect the value of their investments.

In the context of the triple planetary crisis, these ISDS mechanisms undermine States’ ability to enact, implement and enforce the stronger climate and environmental measures needed to respect, protect and fulfil the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. States have already been ordered, by international arbitration panels, to pay more than $100 billion to corporations in the coal, oil, gas, electricity and mining industries. Taking the actions needed to comply with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Paris Agreement, the Convention on Biodiversity, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and other environmental commitments could force States to pay more than one trillion dollars in compensation to foreign investors. Even the threat of being targeted by these cases is blocking more ambitious action urgently needed to address the climate crisis, reduce pollution, protect biodiversity and safeguard the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

The Special Rapporteur is seeking inputs on this topic from States, rightsholders, foreign investors and other businesses and other stakeholders through responses to the questions below. Your replies will inform the Special Rapporteur’s analysis and contribute to his report, which will be presented to the United Nations General Assembly in October 2023. Deadline is 0n 15 June 2023. → Submit your input

Promoting Environmental Democracy: Procedural elements of the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment

The Special Rapporteur has completed a series of six thematic reports on the substantive elements of the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, including clean air, safe and sufficient water, healthy and sustainably produced food, non-toxic environments, healthy ecosystems and biodiversity and a safe, livable climate. His next thematic report will address the procedural or participatory elements of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, including access to information, public participation and access to justice with effective remedies. In light of the Framework Principles on Human Rights and the Environment, the report will also address related topics including the rights to environmental education, freedom of expression and association, and safe spaces for environmental human rights defenders. The Special Rapporteur is seeking inputs on the topic from States, rightsholders and stakeholders through responses to the questions below.

The replies will inform the Special Rapporteur’s analysis and contribute to his report, which will be presented to the 55^th session of the Human Rights Council scheduled for March 2024. The deadline for submission is 2 October 2023. → Submit your input

Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change

Ian Fry is the first Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change. Following the adoption of a resolution at the 48th session of the Human Rights Council (resolution 48/14), Ian Fry was appointed for a three-year term with the following mandate:

• Study and identify how the adverse effects of climate change, affect the full and effective enjoyment of human rights
• Identify existing challenges, including financial challenges, of States’ efforts
• Synthesize knowledge, including indigenous and local traditional knowledge, and identify good practices, strategies and policies
• Promote and exchange views on lessons learned and best practices
• Raise awareness on the human rights affected by climate change, especially of persons living in developing countries particularly vulnerable
• Facilitate and contribute to the exchange of technical assistance, capacity-building and international cooperation in support of national efforts
• Integrate a gender-responsive, age-sensitive, disability inclusive and social-inclusion perspective
• Work closely with States and relevant stakeholders, including business enterprises to adopt a human rights perspective

Calls for submissions

There are currently no calls for submissions.

Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights

The exposure of people to a myriad of harmful substances without their prior informed consent is a human rights issue. However, it is a human rights issue for which solutions exist. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights seeks to help States, businesses and other stakeholders adopt such solutions.

Dr Marcos A. Orellana was appointed Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights in August 2020. He is an expert in international law and the law on human rights and the environment. His practice as legal advisor has included work with United Nations agencies, governments and non-governmental organizations.

Call for submissions

There are currently no calls for submissions.

Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation

The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation was initially established by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2008 as the Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation. The Human Rights Council extended the mandate on water and sanitation in March 2011 and changed its title to Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation. The Special Rapporteur, Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, carries out thematic research, undertakes country missions, collects good practices, and works with development practitioners on the implementation of the rights to water and sanitation.

The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation was established to:

• focus on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation;
• carry out thematic research;
• undertake country missions;
• collect good practices; and
• work with development practitioners on the implementation of the rights to water and sanitation.

Call for submissions

Thematic Report to the 78th session of the UN General Assembly “The rights to water and sanitation as a tool for peace, prevention and cooperation”

Over half the world’s population depends on transboundary aquatic ecosystems, making their management critical for global peace and security. This population’s access to safe drinking water depends directly on the state of these aquatic ecosystems. Toxic or insufficiently treated wastewater discharges can erode or break the potability of water downstream.

As a result, the actions taken in one country can have significant implications for people in other countries sharing the same aquatic ecosystems. When States fail to protect their river basins and aquatic ecosystems, social or inter-territorial conflicts may occur over scarce resources involving communities, productive sectors, and private actors. When ecosystems are transboundary, these conflicts can negatively affect relations between countries. However, water diplomacy provides an opportunity to transform these potential conflicts and their impact on the human rights to water and sanitation into opportunities for cooperation between countries that share river basins and aquatic ecosystems.

The deadline for all comments and submissions is 28 May 2023. → Submit your input

Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples

In 2001, the Commission on Human Rights decided to appoint a Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, as part of the system of thematic Special Procedures. The Special Rapporteur’s mandate was renewed by the Commission on Human Rights in 2004, and by the Human Rights Council in 2007. It was most recently renewed in 2019 in resolution 42/20. Francisco Cali Tzay was appointed Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples in March 2020 and took up the role on 1 May 2020.

The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples was created to:

• Promote good practices, including new laws, government programs, and constructive agreements between indigenous peoples and states, to implement international standards concerning the rights of indigenous peoples;
• Make recommendations and proposals on appropriate measures to prevent and remedy violations of the rights of indigenous peoples;
• Report on the human rights situations of indigenous peoples around the world;
• Address specific cases of alleged violations of indigenous peoples’ rights.

Call for Contributions

There are currently no calls for submissions.

Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders

The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, first established by the Human Rights Commission in 2000 and renewed by the Human Rights Council in 2020, aims to promote the effective implementation of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.

Mary Lawlor is the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders since 1 May 2020. As part of her mandate to seek, receive and respond to information on the situation of human rights defenders, including environmental defenders. In her report to HRC46, she stated that among 1,323 human rights defenders killed since 2015, EHRDs are the most targeted (A/HRC/46/35).

Call for Contributions

There are currently no calls for submissions.

Intergovernmental Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises

There are currently no calls for submissions.

Special Rapporteur on the right to development

The Human Rights Council, in its resolution 33/14 of 29 September 2016, established the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to development. The mandate was recently extended by resolution 51/7. Surya Deva was appointed Special Rapporteur for a period of three years and took up his functions on 1 May 2023.

Call for inputs: 2023 reports of the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to development

In 2023, the Special Rapporteur will be presenting (i) to the Human Rights Council a report outlining a vision for the future in “reinvigorating the right to development” in September 2023 and (ii) to the General Assembly in October 2023 a report on “the role of business in realizing the right to development in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other relevant international human rights instruments”.

As such, the Special Rapporteur seeks to collect information regarding these two thematic reports and possible priorities for the work of the mandate during the next three years in the context of other relevant agendas.

The deadline for all comments and submissions is 9 June 2023. → Submit your input

Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons

Call for input: thematic priorities of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons

The Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Paula Gaviria Betancur, will examine from an intersectional perspective how different groups are impacted by major drivers of displacement and to what extent their participation and specific needs are addressed as part of the process to deliver durable solutions to their displacement. She will study displacement drivers, barriers to, and catalysts for protection and enjoyment of human rights, and durable solution on the various themes including climate change and internal displacement.

As such, the Special Rapporteur invites all representatives of States, including central and local authorities, national human rights institutions, human rights defenders, civil society organizations, academics, UN agencies, internally displaced persons, host communities, and other stakeholders to share their views and thoughts on her proposed thematic priorities for the implementation of her mandate, which she will detail in her forthcoming report to the General Assembly.

The deadline for all comments and submissions is 12 June 2023, 18:00 CEST. → Submit your input