The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) will shortly be moving into its third cycle at the Human Rights Council. This means that each UN Member State will be reviewed on its entire human rights record for the third time. The UPR has proven to be a valuable opportunity to hold governments accountable for sexual and reproductive rights violations at the national level.The list of tentative deadlines for third cycle stakeholder reports for each country can be found here http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/NgosNhris.aspx.First countries up will be: Bahrain, Ecuador, Tunisia, Morocco, Indonesia, Finland, United Kingdom, India, Brazil, Philippines, Algeria, Poland, Netherlands, South Africa.Deadline for stakeholder submissions is 22 September 2016.The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has released new guidelines for stakeholder reports in the third cycle: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/UPR/TechnicalGuidelines3rdCycle.docxWhile many of the requirements remain the same as previous cycles, there is an increased emphasis on implementation of existing recommendations. The OHCHR has prepared matrices of existing recommendations for countries up for review and are encouraging stakeholders to fill out the matrix with information on implementation in addition to the report. The matrix can be submitted as an annex to the report and is not included in the word count for the report. Matrices are available on the documentation page for each country on the OHCHR UPR website. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/Documentation.aspxPlease note that you can still include information in your report on human rights violations that have not yet been subject to a recommendation.For more information on the UPR process see the Sexual Rights Initiative & IPPF UPR Toolkit for Sexual Rights Advocates http://sexualrightsinitiative.com/universal-periodic-review/upr-toolkit/If your organization is interested in collaborating with the Sexual Rights Initiative (SRI) on a joint stakeholder report please see http://sexualrightsinitiative.com/universal-periodic-review/collaborating-with-the-sexual-rights-initiative/ or contact Meghan Doherty at meghan@sexualhealthandrights.ca for more information.VISUAL
