Five key messages we sent to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) have been put in front of nations across the world.   

These were: 

• Individuals in the UK should be able to take complaints to the United Nations when they believe their economic, social and cultural rights have been violated
• The protection of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, reflecting the indivisibility of civil, political, economic, and social rights has been lost after Brexit. The United Kingdom should ensure that human rights and equality standards are built upon and increased rather than regressed as the country charts its future outside the European Union.
• Existing equality and non-discrimination statutory protection must be extended to adequately cover socio-economic equalities.
• There are deep concerns about the cut to Universal Credit that was made in 2021, and the impact on poverty.
• The no recourse to public funds condition has negative impacts on the human rights of migrants. 

In March 2022 we submitted a joint report with Project 17 to the UNHRC as part of the Universal Periodic Review of the United Kingdom. The report highlighted the key human rights violations we believe are happening in the UK. The UNHRC has now selected the five key messages above from our report to include in its compiled report which is sent to countries across the world in advance of this review.  

The Universal Periodic Review of the UK takes place every five years. During the process the UK is examined by other countries across the world in terms of all the commitments the UK has made in relation to protecting, promoting and fulfilling human rights (more on the process here).  

The new report from the UN’s Human Rights Council will be read by countries as they prepare for the actual examination of the UK on 10 November 2023. 

In advance of this we prepared short 2-page briefings on the five key areas we highlighted and disseminated these to the countries who will review the UK, asking them to consider making related recommendations. 

The recommendations that other countries make during the review are a really effective way to convince the UK Government to make changes and better protect the human rights of everyone in the UK.  

The UK Government is being reviewed by other governments, their peers, so of course they want to show they are doing a good job to realise human rights for people in the UK when the eyes of the world are on them. 

To learn more about the Universal Periodic Review process and how to use it in advocacy and campaigning, come along to our free online training on Monday 7 November from 14:00-16:00. More details and booking here.  

Resources 

• Join our training on 7 November 2022 
• UN Human Rights Council Report
• Our UPR Submission to the UN Human Rights Council and blog
• UPR Info
• Blog on UPR process 

Briefings

• Socio-economic Duty
• Cost-of-Living Crisis
• No Recourse to Public Funds
• Human Rights Act 
• UK Exit from the European Union

Image by Adam Eastbur