An increasing number of joint proposals are being tabled by States, treaty bodies and NGOs ahead of the 2020 review of the UN treaty bodies. These were presented and discussed in a public briefing for States hosted jointly by ISHR and TBnet.

The review of General Assembly resolution 68/268 is expected to take place in April 2020. In preparation for the review, a number of actors have come up with proposals on measures to strengthen the UN treaty body system as a key pillar of the international human rights architecture. Those include academia and more recently States, treaty body members and chairs, and NGOs.

The 2020 review of the UN treaty body system provides a major opportunity to take stock around the progress achieved since the adoption of resolution 68/268 in 2014 and identify avenues to further strengthen the coherence and effectiveness of the treaty body system.

The purpose of the public briefing hosted on 28 November was to present and discuss recent public proposals introduced ahead of the 2020 review by:

• NGOs: through a joint proposal for a predictable and coordinated review cycle endorsed by 86 organisations
• Treaty bodies: through a vision for 2020 presented by the Chairpersons on the occasion of their 2019 annual meeting
• States: through a paper initiated by Costa Rica and endorsed by 43 states

#Geneva: Important briefing with States happening now! The measures to strengthen the UN Treaty Body system should improve the realization of human rights on the ground and enhance the procedures of local NGOs. @UNTBNet @CRcancilleria @UNHumanRights @BelgiumUNGeneva @ISHRglobal https://t.co/ZYA0BbWK0H

— OMCT (@omctorg) November 28, 2019

The event was very well attended with over 60 state representatives in the room. It provided a useful avenue to evidence the commonalities between the joint proposals prepared by all three actors, notably around the predictability and coordination of state reviews.

Contact: Vincent Ploton [email protected] 

Illustration: ISHR