Strengthening the UPR’s transformative impact
On 5 and 6 June 2026, UPR Info, in partnership with the Interministerial Delegation for Human Rights of the Kingdom of Morocco and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, organized a reflection retreat in Rabat entitled “Beyond the 4th Cycle of the UPR: Strengthening the Process for Transformative Human Rights Impact.”
As the fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) draws to a close and the mechanism approaches its twentieth anniversary, the retreat provided a space for strategic dialogue on its future. Participants reflected, in particular, on ways to strengthen the implementation of recommendations at the national level, improve certain aspects of the process, better integrate new technologies, and enhance technical and financial assistance.
The discussions were informed by the findings of a preparatory consultation involving 146 representatives of States, national human rights institutions, civil society organizations, United Nations entities, and academia.
The research confirms that the UPR remains widely recognized for its universality, cooperative nature, and ability to bring political visibility to human rights issues. However, it also highlights that the mechanism’s future credibility will increasingly depend on its ability to translate recommendations into concrete, sustainable, and measurable change for rights-holders.
Four main directions emerging from the research guided the discussions:
-placing implementation and the mechanism’s transformative impact at the heart of the fifth cycle;
-moving from primarily government ownership of the UPR towards whole-of-society engagement, including actors that remain less involved in the mechanism;
-considering UPR reforms beyond cost reduction alone, with greater emphasis on the mechanism’s effectiveness and impact;
-better connecting UPR recommendations with public policies, development strategies, cooperation mechanisms, and the resources required for their implementation.
The Rabat retreat provided an opportunity for collective reflection on how to preserve the UPR’s fundamental principles – universality, equal treatment, cooperation, transparency, and participation – while strengthening its contribution to tangible human rights progress.
The analysis of the questionnaire is available here; and the concept note as well a as a summary version of the analysis is available here.
A summary of the discussions and the retreat’s main conclusions will be published shortly.