Civil Society Space Engagement with International and Regional Organizations

A/HRC/RES/38/12View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2018.

What subjects does this mandate have?

8 topics

Civil Society Evaluation Human Rights Advancement International Obligations International Organizations Popular Participation Public-Private Partnerships Regional Organizations

What does this mandate say?

22 operative paragraphs

Reaffirms that creating and maintaining a safe and enabling environment in which civil society can operate free from hindrance and insecurity assists States in fulfilling their existing international human rights obligations and commitments, without which equality, accountability and the rule of law are severely weakened, with implications at the national, regional and international levels;

Urges States to fulfil their obligation to respect and fully protect the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of all individuals, online and offline as applicable, inter alia, the right to freedom of expression and opinion, including artistic expression and creativity, and the right to assemble peacefully and associate freely;

Encourages States and organizations to put in place transparent, fair and gender-sensitive accreditation processes that deliver prompt decisions in compliance with human rights standards, including by establishing grievance mechanisms for redress, and to address any erroneous accreditation decisions;

Encourages States to take every opportunity to support diversity of civil society participation, with particular emphasis on underrepresented parts of civil society, including women, children, youth, older persons, persons with disabilities, persons belonging to ethnic, religious, national, linguistic and racial minorities, migrants, refugees, and others, and also including indigenous peoples and others not associated with or organized in non-governmental organizations;

Urges States to take all steps necessary to prevent threats, attacks, discrimination, arbitrary arrests and detention or other forms of harassment, reprisals and acts of intimidation against civil society actors, to investigate any such alleged acts, to ensure access to justice and accountability, and to end impunity where such violations and abuses have occurred, including by putting in place, and where necessary reviewing and amending, relevant laws, policies, institutions and mechanisms to create and maintain a safe and enabling environment in which civil society can operate free from hindrance, insecurity and reprisals;

Calls upon States to ensure that domestic provisions on funding to civil society actors are in compliance with their international human rights obligations and commitments and are not misused to hinder the work or endanger the safety of civil society actors, and underlines the importance of the ability to solicit, receive and utilize resources for their work;

Urges States and strongly encourages international and regional organizations to adopt and implement robust policies on access to information, in compliance with relevant international law;

Urges all non-State actors to respect all human rights and not to undermine the capacity of civil society to operate free from hindrance and insecurity;

Emphasizes the essential contribution that civil society makes to regional and international organizations, including through advocacy and awareness-raising, the sharing of expertise and knowledge, and implementation, monitoring and evaluation processes, and once again unequivocally reaffirms the right of everyone, individually and in association with others, to unhindered access to and communication with regional and international bodies, and their representatives and mechanisms;

Recognizes the valuable contribution of national, regional and international human rights mechanisms and bodies, including the universal periodic review and the special procedures of the Human Rights Council, the human rights treaty bodies and national human rights institutions, to the promotion and protection of civil society space;

Also recognizes that the effective functioning of the above-mentioned regional and international human rights mechanisms and bodies is inexorably linked to civil society participation;

Encourages the special procedures of the Human Rights Council, the treaty bodies and relevant United Nations bodies, agencies, funds and programmes to continue to address relevant aspects of civil society space in the framework of their respective mandates;

Urges States to ensure that the issue of the creation and maintenance of a safe and enabling environment for civil society is addressed in the context of the universal periodic review, and encourages States in that regard to consult civil society in the preparation of their national reports, to consider including in their national reports information on relevant domestic provisions and steps, to consider making relevant recommendations to States under review and to assist States in the implementation of relevant recommendations through, inter alia, the sharing of experiences, good practices and expertise and offering technical assistance on the basis of requests and with the consent of the States concerned, and conducting broad consultations with civil society in the follow-up to their review, in compliance with Human Rights Council resolutions 5/1 of 18 June 2007 and 16/21 of 25 March 2011;

Takes note with appreciation of the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on procedures and practices in respect of civil society engagement with international and regional organizations, and notes the concerns expressed therein regarding the challenges facing civil society in this regard;

Encourages States to apply good practices, including, but not limited to, those compiled in the report of the High Commissioner on practical recommendations for the creation and maintenance of a safe and enabling environment for civil society, and the good procedures and practices identified by the High Commissioner in his report on procedures and practices in respect of civil society engagement with international and regional organizations;1

Invites States to seek technical assistance and advice in this regard, including from the Office of the High Commissioner, relevant special procedures of the Human Rights Council and from regional human rights mechanisms;

Calls upon States to review, and update as appropriate, their frameworks for engagement with civil society to ensure that those frameworks reflect and respond to the challenges faced, in order to support improved civil society engagement with international and regional organizations, and welcomes efforts already made in this regard;

Strongly encourages all relevant United Nations bodies to review, and update as appropriate, their frameworks for engagement with civil society to ensure that those frameworks reflect and respond to the challenges faced, in order to support improved civil society engagement with international and regional organizations, and welcomes efforts already made in this regard;

Notes the intention of a group of States to undertake a stocktaking exercise in the run-up to the forty-first session of the Human Rights Council, to examine the progress made to date in improving civil society engagement in international and regional organizations, with particular reference to the recommendations made by the High Commissioner in his report,1 and invites States and other stakeholders, including the Office of the High Commissioner and civil society, to participate in this exercise;

Welcomes the work of the Office of the High Commissioner to promote and protect civil society space, including its work on widening the democratic space, and invites it to continue efforts in this regard;

Requests the High Commissioner to prepare a report on progress made in improving civil society engagement with international and regional organizations and to present it to the Human Rights Council at its forty-fourth session;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

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Who created this mandate?

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