There are a number of upcoming opportunities for civil society groups to engage with the UN human rights systems.

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

The 8^th session of the Social Forum of the Human Rights Council will be held from 3 to 5 October 2016. Information about the Forum is available here.

The organisational session of the Human Rights Council will be held on 5 December 2016. Information can be found here. 

HUMAN RIGHTS, DEMOCRACY AND RULE OF LAW FORUM

The 1^st session of the Forum on Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law will be held on 21 November to 22 November 2016. 

MINORITY ISSUES FORUM

The 9^th session of the Forum on Minority Issues will be held from 24 to 25 November 2016. Information about the Forum is available here. 

BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS FORUM

The 5^thUnited Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights will be held from 14 to 16 November 2016. Information about the Forum is available here. 

UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW

The 26^th Universal Periodic Review will take place from 31 October to 11 November 2016, in which the following States will be reviewed: Togo, the Syrian Arab republic, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Iceland, Zimbabwe, Lithuania, Uganda, Timor Leste, Republic of Moldova, Haiti, and South Sudan. Information on NGO participation is available here. General information about the Universal Periodic Review is available here.

TREATY BODIES

The 75^th pre-sessional Working Group of the Committee of the Rights of the Child will be held from 3 October to 7 October 2016, in which the following state reports will be considered: Bhutan, Cameroon, Lebanon, Mongolia and Romania. The pre-sessional Working Group will also consider the reports submitted by Bhutan, the Russian Federation, and the United States of America under article 12(1) of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography. It will also consider the State reports submitted by Bhutan and the United States of America on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflicts.

The 59^th session of the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights will be held on 19 September to 7 October 2016. The Committee will consider the following State reports: Costa Rica, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Lebanon, Philippines, Poland, and Tunisia. The Programme of work is available here, and the information note for civil society is available here. The 58^th pre-session Working Group will be held on 10 October to 14 October 2016.

The 11^th session of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances will be held from 3 to 14 October 2016.  The Committee will analyse the following State reports: Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Colombia. It will also consider the list of issues of the following State parties: Cuba, Ecuador, and Senegal. The Programme of work is available here, and the information note for NGOs is available here.

The 118^th session of the Human Rights Committee will be held from 17 October to 4 November 2016, in which the following country reports will be analysed: Azerbaijan, Colombia, Jamaica, Morocco, Poland, Republic of Moldova, and Slovakia. The Country Report Task Forces of the Committee will also consider and adopt list of issues on the following countries: Honduras, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Mongolia, and Pakistan. The Task Forces will also adopt the list of issues prior to reporting of the following countries: Paraguay and Togo. Finally, the Committee will consider individual complaints regarding Kyrgyzstan and the Russian Federation. The programme of work is available here, and the information note for NGOs is available here.

The 8^th session of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Elaboration of Complementary Standards will be held from 17 to 28 October 2016. Information about the Committee and its previous sessions are available here.  

The 65^th session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women will be held from 24 October to 18 November 2016, in which the following State parties’ country reports will be considered: Argentina, Armenia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bhutan, Burundi, Canada, Estonia, Honduras, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. The programme of work is available here, and the information note for NGOs is available here. The 77^th session of the pre-sessional Working Group of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women will be held from 21 to 25 November 2016.

The 6^th session of the Sub-Committee on Prevention of Torture – Meeting of the State Parties will be held on 27 October 2016. Information about the Sub-Committee is available here.

The 59^th session of the Committee against Torture will be held from 7 November to 7 December 2016, in which the following State reports will be considered: Armenia, Capo Verde, Ecuador, Finland, Monaco, Namibia, Sri Lanka, and Turkmenistan. The Committee will also consider the list of issues prior to reporting of the following countries: Australia, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Montenegro, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United States of America.

The 30^th session of the Sub-Committee on Prevention of Torture will be held from 14 to 18 November. Information on the Sub-Committee can be found here.

The 91^st session of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination will be held from 21 November to 9 December 2016, in which the following State Reports will be considered: Argentina, Italy, Portugal, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Uruguay. The information note for NGOs is available here. 

WORKING GROUPS

The 14^th session of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the effective implementation of the Durban Declaration and programme of Action will be held from 3 to 14 October 2016. Information on the Working Group and its previous sessions are available here.

The 17^th session of the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice will be held from 10 to 14 October 2016. Information on the Working Group is available here.

The 2^nd session of the Open-ended intergovernmental Working Group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights will be held from 24 to 28 October 2016. The deadline for written contribution from relevant stakeholders is 1 September 2016. More information on the Working Group is available here.

The 77^th session of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention will be held from 21 to 25 November 2016. Information on the Working Group is available here.

The 29^th session of the Working Group in the use of mercenaries will be held from 28 November to 2 December 2016. Information on the Working Group is available here.

The 19^th session of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent will be held from 28 November to 2 December 2016. Information on the Working Group is available here.  

The 5^th session of the Working Group on regulatory framework of activities of private military and security companies will be held from 12 to 16 December 2016. Information on the Working Group is available here. 

WORKSHOP

The International Workshop on enhancing cooperation between United Nations and regional human rights mechanisms will be held on 4 October to 5 October 2016.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

The 44^th session of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture will be held from 3 to 7 October 2016.

The 43^rd session of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights will be held from 31 October to 2 November 2016. Information on the Board is available here.

The 21^st session of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery will be held from 28 November to 2 December 2016. Information can be found here.

COUNTRY VISITS BY SPECIAL PROCEDURES

Find more information on these visits here. To find out how you can support the visits, please contact respective mandate-holders via their email address, as listed in the directory.