The United Nations Human Rights Council held its Fifty-fourth session from 11 September to 13 October 2023 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The agenda of the session included several high-level meetings addressing crucial human rights issues. IIMA and VIDES International, together with other partners, delivered two oral statements on youth and human rights, one under Item 3 – Interactive Dialogue with the Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order (text and video) and a another one on the occasion of the Panel discussion on...

Promoting literacy for a world in transition: Building the foundation for sustainable and peaceful societies The International Literacy Day will be celebrated one more time on the 8th September. Each year, a specific theme is chosen to focus the event on one important problematic. For 2023, the theme is: “Promoting literacy for a world in transition: Building the foundation for sustainable and peaceful societies”.[1]   This theme serves as a reminder of the utmost importance of literacy in an ever-changing world. Therefore, it becomes necessary to adapt the means of promoting literacy. Indeed,...

The Committee on the Rights of the Child is composed of independent experts who monitor the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by its States parties. It also monitors the implementation of the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. All states parties are required to report to the committee on how the rights are being met.  On May 9 and 10, 2023,...

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women – 85th Session on Venezuela 18 May 2023 The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system. It requires countries to eliminate discrimination against women and girls in all areas and promotes women’s equal rights to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. On May 18, 2023, Venezuela was reviewed by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) at the Palais des Nations, Geneva. The...

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a cyclical review process of all 193 UN Member States. Once every four years the human rights situation in each State is reviewed. The State under review declares what action has been taken and the measures to be adopted to improve human rights within the Country. During the UPR, specific recommendations are made by the Member States of the Human Rights Council to the State under review. The 43rd UPR session was held from May 1 to 12 in Palais des Nations, Geneva. Among other...

On 8 March 2023, the United Nations will celebrate International Women’s Day with the theme: “DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality.” The session will highlight the importance of and need for “inclusive and transformative technology and digital education” (UN Women), as well as introduce the goal of bridging the gender inequality gap that exists in the digital and technological fields. In doing so, the UN predicts that: Online violence against women will decrease The GDP of low and middle-income countries will increase due to an increased participation of women’s skills...

The United Nations Human Rights Council held its forty-sixth regular session from 22 February to 23 March 2021 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.  It started off with a high-level segment from 22 to 24 February where dignitaries representing more than 130 countries addressed the Council on their governments’ efforts to promote and protect human rights. It was held for the first time entirely online. This session also welcomed the new president, Ambassador Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji.  It was opened with speeches from Secretary-General of the United Nations, António...

Every year, on the 8th of March, we celebrate International Women’s Day, an event promoted by the United Nations in order to celebrate the progress reached by women in the economic, political, and cultural fields. The theme proposed for 2021 is: “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world”. This celebrates the tremendous efforts by women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The campaign slogan is: “Choose to challenge”. It is important to know this celebration as...

Every year, on the 8th of March, we celebrate International Women’s Day, an event promoted by the United Nations in order to celebrate the progress reached by women in the economic, political, and cultural fields. The theme proposed for 2021 is: “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world”. This celebrates the tremendous efforts by women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The campaign slogan is: “Choose to challenge”. It is important to know this celebration as...

Since 1994, World Teachers’ Day is held annually on 5 October to commemorate the anniversary of the adoption of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers (https://en.unesco.org/themes/teachers/ceart ), which sets benchmarks regarding the rights and responsibilities of teachers and standards for their initial preparation and further education, recruitment, employment, and teaching and learning conditions. In 2020, World Teachers’ Day will be dedicated to the theme “Teachers: Leading in crisis, reimagining the future”, providing the occasion to celebrate the teaching profession and draw attention to the voices of teachers worldwide. This...