The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is an intergovernmental process of the Human Rights Council where each of the 193 UN Member States is reviewed on their entire human rights record every four and a half years. During the peer-review process, UN Member States give recommendations on how the state under review could improve human rights in their own country.
What is a Stakeholder Submission? Civil society can contribute to the UPR through a Stakeholder Submission. These reports detail evidence, advances, and challenges in the human rights record of each country since their last review. They can be used to inform the recommendations made to the country under review so that the process reflects the experiences of people affected. It takes just one recommendation to get your issues on your state’s formal agenda.
Each member State’s review is based on three documents:
1. A national report prepared by the country under review
2. A compilation of United Nations information prepared by the OHCHR (Special Procedures, Treaty Monitoring Bodies)
3. A summary of information submitted by civil society (Stakeholder Submissions), prepared by the OHCHR
Why submit a report? Writing a Stakeholder Submission is an accessible way to ensure your issues are reflected in the UPR process and hold your government accountable to their human rights commitments. While, ideally, content from the reports will be reflected in the OHCHR summary report and recommendations from reviewing states, your participation in the process is beneficial in many other ways. By participating in the process you can…
FULL TEXT: Engaging with the Universal Periodic Review ; Global UPR Factsheet 2_EN_.pdf, by Action Canada for Sexual Health & Rights, Sexual Rights Initiative