Celebrating 20 years of the Human Rights Council

Following the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Human Rights Council, celebrated last June, UPR Info reflects, in an opinion piece published in the Tribune de Genève, on the essential role of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

In a context marked by crises, financial pressures and growing questions around multilateralism, the article recalls that the UPR remains a unique mechanism: it reviews all States on an equal footing, while offering civil society a space to bring local realities to the international level.

Through concrete examples, the piece shows that behind diplomatic debates in Geneva lie very real changes in people’s lives, including access to education, health, formal employment and basic services.

Rather than focusing only on what does not work, the article invites us to recognise what the Council makes possible — often far from the spotlight, but with a real impact on people’s lives.

Read the full article here (available only in French).