Elaboration of Human Rights Voluntary Goals to Be Launched on the Occasion of the Celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

A/HRC/RES/6/26View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, published in 2008.

What subjects does this mandate have?

14 subjects

Anniversaries Capacity Building Consultations Declarations Discrimination Human Rights Human Rights Advancement Human Rights Education Human Rights Institutions Institution Building International Cooperation International Obligations Programmes of Action Signatures, Accessions, Ratifications

What’s in this document?

15 operative paragraphs

Decides to initiate an open-ended intergovernmental process in order to elaborate, on a consensual basis, a set of human rights voluntary goals, to promote the realization and implementation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in accordance with States’ international human rights obligations and commitments to be launched on 10 December 2008 during the celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

Also decides to the end described in paragraph 1 above to take the following steps:

To invite States to refer to the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to human rights voluntary goals at the High-level Segment of the Human Rights Council at its session in March 2008, and to hold a panel with the aim of exchanging views on the issue of human rights voluntary goals at that session;

To invite the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to present to the Human Rights Council by its session in June 2008 information on the programmes and activities to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

To hold thereafter open-ended intergovernmental informal consultations to elaborate a set of human rights voluntary goals to be presented to the Human Rights Council, on a consensual basis, through a draft resolution to be adopted by the Council at the end of its session in September 2008;

Further decides that the open-ended intergovernmental process will lead to the elaboration of human rights voluntary goals under the following issues:

Universal ratification of the core international human rights instruments;

Elaboration, in each country, where they do not exist, of national human rights programmes, and the creation of national institutions responsible for human rights issues, in accordance with the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action of 1993 and the Paris Principles;

Adoption of a legal, institutional and policy framework at the national level in order to ensure the promotion and protection of all human rights;

Definition, within the framework of national human rights programmes, of targets and actions in the field of capacity-building as well as of a programme of human rights education and identification of needs and shortcomings related to international cooperation;

Definition within the framework of national human rights programmes of targets and actions in compliance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, inter alia, to eliminate discrimination of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status;

Emphasizes that such human rights voluntary goals are to be regarded as reinforcing and by no means as replacing, either totally or partially, existing human rights obligations and commitments, including the implementation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

Welcomes participation in the process of representatives of the United Nations and of regional human rights systems, as well as of all relevant stakeholders, according to the rules of procedure of the Human Rights Council;

Decides to consider the results of the open-ended intergovernmental process in elaborating a set of human rights voluntary goals to be submitted to the Human Rights Council, on a consensual basis, through a draft resolution, by its session in September 2008;

Encourages States and all relevant stakeholders to present to the Human Rights Council, during the commemoration process, the projects and activities undertaken at the national, regional and international levels on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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