UN Human Rights Council Confronts Tensions, Financial Challenges

(MENAFN) The upcoming 61st session of the UN Human Rights Council will take place under significant financial uncertainty and geopolitical tension, its president Sidharto Reza Suryodipuro said on Monday. The six-week session is scheduled in Geneva from Feb. 23 to March 31 and comes amid what Suryodipuro described as a “context of strain,” with member states facing diverging priorities and limited resources.

“Members of the Human Rights Council would have different priorities. They will bring to the table, for the dialogue, various priorities,” he told reporters. “I think that common interest is how we defend and strengthen the international architecture of human rights. So it will be a challenge in how to bridge these various perspectives while at the same time also dealing with financial limitations (and) increasing financial limitations.”

The session’s opening is expected to host over 100 high-level dignitaries, including at least two heads of state—José Ramos-Horta of Timor-Leste and Gustavo Petro of Colombia—alongside Antonio Guterres, UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock, and High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk.

The council plans to address thematic issues such as the role of emerging technologies in preventing female genital mutilation, the 25th anniversary of the Durban Declaration, sustainable development financing, and the rights of persons with disabilities and children.

Country-specific situations on the agenda include Afghanistan, Sudan, the occupied Palestinian territory, Ukraine, Myanmar, and others.

“In closing, the 61st session will test the council’s ability to operate under constraints while remaining faithful to its mandate,” Suryodipuro said.

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