Joint NGO Statement - End of 40th Session of the UN Human Rights Council We welcome the positive step the Council has taken in the direction to effectively protect environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs) from the grave reality they face every day.

TO: Member states of the United Nations Human Rights Council 15 March, 2019 Your Excellency, We, the undersigned Iranian and international human rights organisations, urge your government to support resolution A/HRC/40/L.

  UN Human Rights Council – 40th Session 15 March 2019 Oral Statement The Arab NGO Network on Development, the Phenix Center for Economic & Informatics Studies and CIVICUS welcome the government of Jordan’s engagement with the UPR process, including its decision to accept over 100 recommendations on a range of human rights issues.

  UN Human Rights Council – 40th Session 15 March 2019 Oral Statement The Nigeria Network of NGOs and CIVICUS welcome the Government of Nigeria’s engagement in the 3rd cycle of the UPR process, including accepting a range of recommendations presented by the UPR Working Group in November 2018.

  UN Human Rights Council – 40th Session 15 March 2019 Oral Statement Pusat Komas and CIVICUS welcome the government of Malaysia’s engagement with the UPR process.

  UN Human Rights Council – 40th Session 15 March 2019 Oral Statement The Senegalese Coalition of Human Rights Defenders (COSEDDH) and CIVICUS welcome the engagement taken by the government of Senegal in the UPR process, and welcome the acceptance of several recommendations on civic space during its review by the UPR Working Group in November 2018.

  UN Human Rights Council – 40th Session 15 March 2019 Oral Statement CIVICUS welcomes the government of Mexico's engagement with the UPR process.

  While acknowledging the integral role that this Council plays in holding governments to account for wilfully persecuting individuals and groups who speak truth to power, we would like to use this opportunity to celebrate the recent civil and political liberation ushered in by sustained protest movements in Ethiopia,  while further encouraging the government of Ethiopia to ensure that this transformation is sustainable rather than fleeting, systemic rather than cosmetic.

Joint Letter at the 40th session of the UN Human Rights Council Our organisations are calling on all UN Member States to demonstrate their support to environmental human rights defenders.

  UN Human Rights Council – 40th regular session Interactive dialogue with the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi CIVICUS is extremely concerned that grave human rights violations in Burundi continue without any signs of abating.

The massive crackdown on women #HumanRightsDefenders in #SaudiArabia must stop.

  40th Session of the Human Rights Council Statement delivered during General Debate (Monday 11 March) CIVICUS is deeply alarmed that protest movements find themselves on the frontlines of a global attack on democracy and human rights.

  Statement at the 40th Session of the UN Human Rights Council Response to country reports from the High Commissioner and Secretary General CIVICUS is extremely concerned about attacks against human rights defenders across Colombia, Honduras and Guatemala, of which governments of these counties show little sign of adequately addressing.

  Statement at the 40th Session of the UN Human Rights Council Response during the Interactive Dialogue on the Democratic Republic of Congo CIVICUS welcomes the decree signed by newly-elected Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi to pardon about 700 political prisoners detained for participating in peaceful protests or expressing dissenting opinions.

40th Session of the UN Human Rights Council CIVICUS statement during dialogue with UN Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed After the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations delivered a statement on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, representatives from governments, UN agencies and civil society were able to respond and ask questions.

Renewal of the mandate of Special Rapporteur on promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism Our organizations are deeply concerned about reported moves to allow Egypt a role in the Human Rights Council resolution to renew the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism (SR on CT).

  The 40th session of the UN Human Rights Council will meet from 25 February to 22 March.

To Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the UN Human Rights Council Dear Excellencies, We, the undersigned Sudanese, African and international organisations and individuals, write to you ahead of the 40th session of the UN Human Rights Council (“the Council”), which will take place from 25 February-22 March 2019, to express our concerns and urge you to address the Sudanese government’s crackdown on peaceful demonstrators and ongoing violations of human rights.

CIVICUS makes six joint UN Universal Periodic Review submissions on civil society space: Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Nicaragua and Qatar CIVICUS and its partners have made joint UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) submissions on 6 countries in advance of the 33rd UPR session (April-May 2019).

This session, the Council adopted landmark resolutions on several country situations, further enhancing its contribution to the protection of human rights.

39th Session of the UN Human Rights Council Joint statement during Interactive Dialogue on High Commissioner's Report on Yemen Urgent need to address the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and its impact on the most vulnerable populations: A call for renewal and strengthening of the mandate for the Group of Eminent Experts This statement is made on behalf of Save the Children and 15 civil society organisations, including organisations with current operations in Yemen.

The Association for Human Rights in Central Asia, International Partnership for Human Rights and CIVICUS welcome the government of Uzbekistan’s engagement with the UPR process, including its decision to accept over 200 recommendations on a range of human rights issue.

CIVICUS, DefendDefenders, and FIDH welcome the government of Djibouti's engagement with the UPR process.

Coalition Burkinabé des Défenseurs des Droits Humains, the West Africa Human Rights Defenders Network and CIVICUS welcome the government of Burkina Faso's engagement with the UPR process.

CIVICUS welcomes the government of Turkmenistan's engagement with the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process.

Human Rights Council 39th session  Joint statement: ISHR & CIVICUS Interactive Dialogue with Assistant Secretary-General on the Secretary-General's report on cooperation with the United Nations, it's representatives and Mechanisms in the field of human rights Human rights defenders must be able to access and communicate with the UN freely and safely so it can do its crucial work of monitor countries’ compliance with human rights obligations and protect victims from abuse.

39th Session of the Human Rights Council Oral Statement   Members of the CIVICUS Alliance in Zimbabwe have expressed grave concern for the authorities’ heavy-handed response to protests in Harare one day after presidential elections were held.

39th Session of the Human Rights Council General Debate Civic Space Initiative, including Article 19, CIVICUS, European Center for Not-for-profit Law, International Center for Not-for-profit Law and World Movement for Democracy, welcomes the draft guidelines on effective implementation of the right to participate in public affairs prepared by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

39th Session of the Human Rights Council   Opening Statement to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights  High Commissioner Bachelet, CIVICUS warmly welcomes you to the Council and congratulates your appointment as 7th UN High Commissioner.

Joint NGO letter to the new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet – 5 September 2018 As local, national, regional, and international civil society organizations from every corner of the world, we offer warm congratulations on your appointment as United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Letter sent to UN Member State Missions Re: Creating a dedicated country-wide human rights monitoring and reporting mechanism on the Democratic Republic of Congo at the UN Human Rights Council Your excellency, We, the undersigned Congolese, regional, and international organizations, write to urge your delegation to support the creation of a country-wide human rights monitoring and reporting mechanism on the Democratic Republic of Congo at the upcoming 39th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Frances To Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Geneva, Switzerland Burundi: Call to renew the mandate of the Commission of Inquiry Excellencies, Ahead of the 39th session of the UN Human Rights Council (“HRC” or “the Council”), we, the undersigned national, regional and international civil society organisations, write to urge your delegation to support a resolution renewing the mandate of the UN Commission of Inquiry (CoI) on Burundi.

Submissions on civil society space– Afghanistan, Chile, Eritrea, Macedonia, Vietnam & Yemen The #UN is conducting human rights reviews for #Afghanistan, #Chile, #Eritrea, #Macedonia, #Vietnam & #Yemen.

38th Session of the Human Rights Council End of Session Joint Civil Society Statement Our organisations welcome the adoption of the resolutions on civil society space, peaceful protest, on violence against women and girls and on discrimination against women and girls and the Council’s rejection of attempts to impede progress on protecting civil society space, peaceful protest and the rights to sexual and reproductive health.

38th Session Human Rights Council Joint Statement* We want to highlight key features for the next High Commissioner – one of the world’s premier human rights defender – whose mandate includes providing technical assistance and capacity building to States, as well as standing up for universal human rights and those who defend them.

38th Session of UN Human Rights Council Adoption of the UPR report of Burundi  Mr.

38th Session of UN Human Rights Council Adoption of the UPR report of the Republic of Serbia   The Human Rights House Belgrade (Lawyer’s Committee for Human Rights, Belgrade Center for Human Rights, Civic Initiatives, Helsinki Committee for Human Rights and Policy Center), the Human Rights House Foundation and CIVICUS welcome the Government of Serbia's engagement with the UPR process.

38th Session of UN Human Rights Council Adoption of the UPR report of Israel Mr.

38th Session of UN Human Rights Council Adoption of the UPR report of the United Arab Emirates  The Gulf Centre for Human Rights, the International Service for Human Rights and CIVICUS welcome the chance to engage in the process of the UAE’s UPR.

In our Universal Periodic Review submission, we documented that since its last review, France only partially implemented one of the two recommendations it received relating to civic space.

38th Session of UN Human Rights Council Dialogue with UN Special Rapporteur on Eritrea On behalf of CIVICUS, Reporters without Borders, the Eritrean Movement for Democracy and Human Rights, the Eritrean Law society, Eritrea Focus, Network of Eritrean Women, Amnesty International, and the Horn of Africa Civil Society Forum, I would first like to express our deepfelt gratitude and appreciation to the Special Rapporteur for her unwavering support to Eritrean victims of human rights violations.

38th Session of the Human Rights Council   General Debate – civic space in Egypt, Tanzania and Vietnam CIVICUS is concerned about the situation in Egypt where authorities have arrested, interrogated and detained several activists, bloggers and journalists over the last few weeks, indicating a significant escalation in the crackdown on the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly in the country.

38th Session of the Human Rights Council   Update of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights  CIVICUS welcomes the High Commissioner’s final update and thanks him for his continued support for human rights defenders and for speaking the truth to power in this August room for the last four years.

38th Session of the Human Rights Council   Interactive Dialogue with Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and the  Independent Expert on sexual orientation and gender identity CIVICUS welcomes this occasion to dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and the Independent Expert on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The 38th session of the UN Human Rights Council, from 18 June to 6 July 2018, will consider core civic space issues of freedom of association, assembly and expression.

Special session of the UN Human Rights Council on the deteriorating human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem Oral Statement CIVICUS, the Palestinian NGO Network and the Arab NGO Network for Development condemn the atrocities committed by the Israeli Occupation Forces against peaceful Palestinian protesters in Gaza.

CIVICUS welcomes this celebratory discussion of a true icon of our times.

Johannesburg, 17 April 2018 - DefendDefenders, CIVICUS and the Observatory condemn acts of reprisals against human rights defender Mr.

CIVICUS and its partners have submitted joint and stand-alone UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) submissions on eight countries to the UN Human Rights Council in advance of the 31st UPR session (November 2018).

In a letter to the UN Secretary-General, a coalition of more than 70 civil society organisations has put forward proposals to revitalise and enhance the process to select the new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.