UN staff, including eight OHCHR colleagues, detained in Yemen
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Issued by
Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
Deadline
01 April 2023
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier De Schutter, will conduct an official visit to Bangladesh from 17 to 29 May 2023, at the invitation of the Government of Bangladesh. His visit aims at assessing the efforts to combat poverty and to protect the human rights of people in poverty in Bangladesh.
The Special Rapporteur invites all interested individuals and organizations, including civil society organizations, activists, and academics, to provide input on the priority issues listed below to assist him in preparing for the visit.
The Special Rapporteur is an independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council. UN independent experts regularly undertake country visits to report on human rights issues. Visits, which typically last for two weeks, include meetings between the Special Rapporteur and individuals affected by poverty, public officials, members of parliamentary and judicial bodies, official institutions, civil society organizations, and academics. At the conclusion of country visits, the Special Rapporteur presents a detailed statement of his initial findings. He subsequently submits a final report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The report informs other processes, including the review of the country in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Human Rights Council and by human rights treaty bodies.
The Special Rapporteur, Olivier De Schutter, is a Professor of Law at UCLouvain and at SciencesPo (Paris), with extensive experience as an independent UN human rights expert. Between 2008-2014, he served as Special Rapporteur on the right to food. He was a Member of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights between 2015-2020, a position he held until he took up his functions as Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights on 1 May 2020.
Respondents are requested to limit their comments to a maximum of 2,000 words. Additional supporting materials, such as reports, academic studies, and other background materials may be annexed to the submission.
While all submissions are welcome, and the questions below are by no means exhaustive, the Special Rapporteur would be grateful for comments that address in particular the following topics:
Submissions can be sent to [email protected] by 1 April 2023. Kindly send your submission as an attachment to an email. Where possible, submissions in English, French, or Spanish are encouraged, as capacity for translation is limited and this would significantly facilitate review by the Special Rapporteur and his staff.
The Special Rapporteur’s visit will lead to a detailed end of mission statement on 29 May 2023, and a final report presented to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2024.
We will publish all submissions unless the submitting individual and/or organisation requests that their submission be kept confidential. Please indicate in your submission whether we may publish all or part of it on the website of the Special Rapporteur.
The Special Rapporteur greatly appreciates the effort that goes into making such contributions and looks forward to reading all submissions.
Regular updates on the visit to Bangladesh will be posted on the website of the Special Rapporteur and via his Twitter account. A press release with additional information about the visit will be issued and published online on 10 May 2023.
On 29 May 2023, the Special Rapporteur will hold a press conference in Dhaka where he will present a statement with his initial findings. Before and during the visit, the Special Rapporteur’s engagement with media will be limited to commenting on the scope of the visit, meetings held, and issues discussed during these meetings. Only at the press conference and thereafter will the Special Rapporteur be in a position to comment on his findings and conclusions.
Media inquiries, including requests to join the Special Rapporteur’s press list, may be directed to Bahram Ghazi (+41 22 928 9515; [email protected]) and Kate Holmes (+44 780 350 2410; [email protected]).
Twitter:@DeSchutterO and @srpoverty
For more information, please write to [email protected] or [email protected]