The Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights

A/HRC/RES/61/6No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2026.

What other versions does this mandate have?

8 versions · 2019–2026

2026A/HRC/RES/61/6The negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rightsLatestCompare with previous version
2025A/HRC/RES/58/3The negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rightsCompare with previous version
2024A/HRC/RES/55/7The negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rightsCompare with previous version
2023A/HRC/RES/52/13The negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rightsCompare with previous version
2022A/HRC/RES/49/6The negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rightsCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

6 topics

Accountability Human Rights Right to Development Right to Health Sanctions Unilateral Coercive Measures

What does this mandate say?

48 operative paragraphs

Urges all States to stop adopting, maintaining, implementing or complying with unilateral coercive measures not in accordance with international law, international humanitarian law, the Charter of the United Nations and the norms and principles governing peaceful relations among States, in particular those of a coercive nature with extraterritorial effects, which create obstacles to trade relations among States, thus impeding the full realization of the rights set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments, in particular the right of individuals and peoples to development;

Calls upon States and relevant United Nations agencies to take concrete measures to mitigate the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on humanitarian assistance, which should be delivered in accordance with General Assembly resolution 46/182 of 19 December 1991;

Strongly urges all States to refrain from imposing unilateral coercive measures, also urges the removal of such measures, as they are contrary to the Charter and norms and principles governing peaceful relations among States at all levels, and recalls that such measures prevent the full realization of economic and social development of nations while also affecting the full realization of human rights;

Urges States to resolve their differences through dialogue and peaceful means and to avoid the use of economic, political or other measures to coerce another State with regard to the exercise of its sovereign rights;

Strongly objects to the extraterritorial nature of those measures which, in addition, threaten the sovereignty of States, and in this context calls upon all States neither to recognize these measures nor to apply them, and to take effective administrative or legislative measures, as appropriate, to counteract the extraterritorial application or effects of unilateral coercive measures;

Strongly condemns the continued unilateral application and enforcement by certain powers of such measures as tools of pressure, including political and economic pressure, against any country, particularly against least developed and developing countries, with a view to preventing these countries from exercising their right to decide, of their own free will, their own political, economic and social systems;

Expresses deep concern at the growing resort to unilateralism and unilaterally imposed measures that undermine the Charter and international law;

Expresses its grave concern that any unilateral coercive measure imposed necessarily runs counter to some provisions of the International Bill of Human Rights and peremptory norms of customary international law, and entails adverse consequences for the enjoyment of human rights by innocent people and persons in vulnerable situations;

Expresses its deep concern over the increasing negative effects of unilateral coercive measures on the environment and natural resources, leading to serious violations of human rights of targeted populations, and strongly condemns the continued unilateral application of such measures, which result in various environmental transboundary and transgenerational implications for present and future generations;

Expresses its grave concern that, in some countries, the socioeconomic conditions of family members, particularly women and children, are adversely affected by unilateral coercive measures, imposed and maintained contrary to international law and the Charter, that create obstacles to trade relations among States, restrict movement through various means of transport, impede the full realization of social and economic development and hinder the well-being of the population in the affected countries, with particular consequences for women, children, including adolescents, the elderly and persons with disabilities;

Reiterates its call upon States that have initiated, enforced or implemented such measures to commit themselves to their obligations and responsibilities arising from relevant provisions of the international law and human rights instruments to which they are a party by putting an immediate end to such measures;

Reaffirms in this context the right of all peoples to self-determination by virtue of which they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their own economic, social and cultural development;

Also reaffirms, as enshrined in the Charter, its opposition to any attempt aimed at the partial or total disruption of the national unity and territorial integrity of a State;

Recalls that, according to the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and to the relevant principles and provisions contained in the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States, proclaimed by the General Assembly in its resolution 3281 (XXIX) of 12 December 1974, in particular article 32 thereof, no State may use or encourage the use of economic, political or any other type of measure to coerce another State in order to obtain from it the subordination of the exercise of its sovereign rights and to secure from it advantages of any kind;

Reaffirms that essential goods, such as medical equipment, spare parts for vaccines, software and operational codes, equipment and spare parts for livestock vaccines, seeds and fertilizers necessary for food production, processing and preserving, as well as critical infrastructure necessary to ensure basic needs, well-being and development of the population such as electricity, water, gas and gasoline supply and healthcare infrastructure, shall never be used as tools for political coercion and that under no circumstances should people be deprived of their means of subsistence and development;

Underlines the fact that unilateral coercive measures are one of the major obstacles to the implementation of the Declaration on the Right to Development, and in this regard calls upon all States to avoid the unilateral imposition of economic coercive measures and the extraterritorial application of domestic laws that run counter to the principles of free trade and hamper the development of least developed and developing countries;

Rejects all attempts to introduce unilateral coercive measures and the increasing trend in this direction, including through the enactment of laws with extraterritorial application that are not in conformity with international law, and urges States Members of the United Nations to take fully into account the negative impact of those measures, including through the enactment and extraterritorial application of national laws that are not in conformity with international law in their task concerning the implementation of the right to development;

Requests States to refrain from drawing up illegal and unilateral lists, such as the list of States that allegedly sponsor terrorism, which constitutes an additional unilateral coercive measure and violates fundamental principles of international law, including the principle of the sovereign equality of States, the prohibition of intervention in the internal affairs of States and the principle of peaceful settlement of international disputes;

Requests all States to take all measures, including legislative, administrative, and judicial, to ensure, in accordance with their obligations under international law, that businesses and other private actors acting under their jurisdiction and control do not violate human rights, including extraterritorially in the course of implementation, complying or over-complying with unilateral coercive measures;

Recognizes that the Declaration of Principles adopted at the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society, held in Geneva in December 2003, strongly urged States to avoid and refrain from any unilateral measure in building the information society;

Stresses the need for an impartial and independent mechanism of the United Nations human rights machinery for the victims of unilateral coercive measures to address the issues of remedies and redress, with a view to promoting accountability and legal, equitable, timely and effective remedies and reparations;

Urges all special rapporteurs and existing thematic mechanisms of the Human Rights Council in the field of economic, social and cultural rights to pay due attention, within the scope of their respective mandates, to the negative impact and consequences of unilateral coercive measures and to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights in fulfilling her mandate;

Recognizes the importance of the quantitative and qualitative documentation of the negative impact associated with the application, promotion, compliance with, promulgation and implementation of unilateral coercive measures in the context of ensuring the accountability of those responsible for human rights violations resulting from the application of unilateral coercive measures against any State;

Acknowledges the need to ensure that all relevant United Nations human rights treaty bodies and subsidiary organs of the Human Rights Council mainstream the issue of the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights and perform specific activities, such as during the review of periodic reports submitted by States to such bodies and in the context of the universal periodic review;

Decides to give due consideration to the issue of the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on human rights in its tasks concerning the implementation of the right to development;

Recalls the report of the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights and the addendum thereto on elements for a draft General Assembly declaration on unilateral coercive measures and the rule of law, submitted to the Human Rights Council at its forty-second session, and also recalls the reports of the Special Rapporteur submitted to the Council at its fifty-first session and to the Assembly at its seventy-seventh session;

Requests the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights to continue her work on identifying and proposing concrete measures to ensure the removal of unilateral coercive measures affecting the enjoyment of human rights of victims and on the human rights impact of secondary sanctions and overcompliance;

Invites all States, civil society and other stakeholders to provide information for the tool to ensure impartiality and comprehensiveness of assessments;

Calls upon the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in collaboration with all relevant stakeholders, to continue to provide the necessary technical and financial support for, and ensure the operationalization of, the monitoring tool as a stable mechanism under the auspices of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, with a view to ensuring its accessibility, usability and effectiveness for all stakeholders;

Reiterates the request to the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee:

To prepare, in close cooperation with the Special Rapporteur, an in-depth study review – drawing on existing available resources and, if necessary, supplemented by voluntary contributions – on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the right to health of individuals in vulnerable situations, particularly women and children, based on research undertaken and data collected at the national, regional and international levels, including in particular:

An overview of the adverse impact of unilateral coercive measures on the right to health to better evaluate the scope of their consequences and to identify gaps in data collection;

An analysis of the mechanisms, including root causes and contributing factors, by which unilateral coercive measures undermine access to health;

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An assessment of the short-, medium- and long-term consequences for the health, well-being and human rights of women and children;

An evaluation of the health, social and economic costs associated with unilateral coercive measures;

The identification of best practice examples in legislative, policy, programme and remedial measures aimed at mitigating these adverse effects;

To present its comprehensive report and findings to the Human Rights Council at its sixty-fourth session;

Invites the Special Rapporteur to engage with scholars, researchers and others in the academic community to encourage research that is relevant to the mandate, including but not limited to the areas of law, economics, political science, social science, medicine and agriculture, and also through the Sanctions Research Platform;

Encourages the Special Rapporteur to finalize the development of the guiding principles on humanitarian action in the unilateral sanctions environment and the guiding principles on effective remedy and responsibility in the unilateral sanctions environment and a commentary thereto;

Requests the Office of the High Commissioner to organize, in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 27/21, a biennial panel discussion, to be held at the sixty-sixth session of the Council, on the impact of unilateral coercive measures on the rights of persons in vulnerable situations, with the participation of States, relevant United Nations bodies, agencies and other relevant stakeholders, and requests the Special Rapporteur to act as rapporteur of the panel discussion and to prepare a report thereon, and to submit and present the report to the Council at its sixty-seventh session;

Calls upon all States and United Nations agencies, funds and programmes to cooperate with and assist the Special Rapporteur in the performance of her tasks, and to provide all necessary information requested by her;

Requests the Secretary-General to provide the assistance necessary to the Special Rapporteur to fulfil her mandate effectively, in particular by placing adequate human and material resources at her disposal;

Recognizes the importance of the role of the Office of the High Commissioner in addressing the challenges arising from unilateral coercive measures and their negative impact on the human rights of peoples and individuals who wish to realize their economic and social rights, including the right to development;

Requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in discharging his functions relating to the promotion, realization and protection of the right to development and bearing in mind the continuing impact of unilateral coercive measures on the population of least developed and developing countries, to give priority to the present resolution in his annual report;

Requests the High Commissioner, and urges relevant special procedures of the Human Rights Council and the treaty bodies, to pay attention, within the framework of their mandates, to the situation of persons whose rights have been violated as the result of unilateral coercive measures;

Requests the Secretary-General to provide the assistance necessary to the High Commissioner to fulfil his mandate effectively, in particular by placing adequate human and material resources at his disposal;

Urges States and other stakeholders to promote and preserve multilateralism and to take the measures necessary to strengthen bilateral, regional and international cooperation aimed at addressing the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the full enjoyment of all human rights;

Decides to continue its consideration of this issue in accordance with its programme of work.

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