IIMA and VIDES Participation in the 59th Session of the Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council held its 59th session from June 16 to July 8, 2025, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. This was a crucial appointment, where the international community addressed the most urgent challenges: from the defense of human dignity to the growing alarm over xenophobia and intolerance, and the dramatic situations marked by systematic violations of fundamental rights.
In this context, IIMA and VIDES International strongly raised the voice of young people, bringing to the heart of the Council four oral statements dedicated to the vital link between human rights and education.
During the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education (text and video), the two organizations welcomed his report on the visit to the United States, firmly calling for the removal of censorship and barriers, the strengthening of safety in school environments and the guarantee of inclusive and quality education for all.
Their presence also resonated in the Interactive Dialogues with the Special Rapporteurs on trafficking in persons, especially women and children (text and video), on extreme poverty and human rights (text and video), and with the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls (text and video). Here, IIMA and VIDES issued a strong appeal: to protect migrants and children; to break the cycle that forces so many girls to leave school to shoulder heavy care work too early; and to ensure the right to education even in contexts marked by emergencies and climate disasters.
A highly significant element: all statements were delivered by young representatives from Spain and Germany, bearing witness to the increasingly decisive role of new generations in multilateral human rights processes.
IIMA and VIDES also co-sponsored two oral statements – one on international solidarity and the other on the situation of internally displaced persons – and co-signed the statement at the Annual Panel on technical cooperation and capacity-building (text and video). On this occasion, they urgently reiterated that States must translate the recommendations emerging from the Universal Periodic Review mechanism into concrete actions, at the national and local levels, in order to give real substance to the protection of human rights worldwide.
The texts and videos of all oral statements are available on IIMA website.