ERI was again active during the recently concluded Human Rights Council session.
The following oral statements were delivered by members of our local networks or members of the ERI team:-
– on homelessness in Northern Ireland during the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Housing
– on Covid-19 and online education during the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Education
– on trafficking during the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking
– a joint statement on poverty in South Africa during the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty
– on violence against women with disability in Kenya during the panel discussion on Women and Human Rights
– on human rights in Myanmar (on behalf of ERI partners who feared repercussions if they identified themselves) during the discussion of the report of the UN Human Rights Commissioner on the situation in Myanmar.
– on the outcome of the UPR of Australia
Several more statements were planned but unable to be delivered due to limits on the number of NGOs permitted to speak on each agenda item.
Those pre-recorded statements included statements on:-
– proposed changes to laws in the UK regarding asylum seekers and refugees during the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Migrants.
– on teenage pregnancy in Sierra Leone and in Peru during the interactive dialogue with the Working Group on Discrimination Against Women.
– a joint statement on domestic violence and child marriage in the context of the covid pandemic in India and violence against women in South Africa during the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women.
ERI also co-signed several statements prepared by our partners, including a request for the appointment of a UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Climate Change, on the issue of International Solidarity in the face of the current pandemic and on the need to suspend the outcome of the UPR review of Myanmar.
ERI also joined the discussion around a draft resolution around the protection of Civil Society space at the UN initiated by Ireland, Chile, Japan, Tunisia and Sierra Leone. The resolution was subsequently passed by the Human Rights Council.