Human Rights Day
Human rights belong to all of us. Join us and uphold the rights of everyone, everywhere. Our rights, our future, right now.
Human rights belong to all of us. Join us and uphold the rights of everyone, everywhere. Our rights, our future, right now.
Resources
Governments have the main responsibility for protecting the human rights of the people within their countries. The UN human rights system assists them by:
Human rights standards only have value if they are effectively implemented. States recovering from conflict or who lack adequate resources or expertise need assistance to implement their human rights obligations. UN Human Rights' Technical Cooperation Programme supports States' national efforts to protect human rights.
UN Human Rights Technical Cooperation Programme.
The Human Rights Council is the key United Nations intergovernmental body responsible for promoting and protecting human rights. Representatives of 47 Member States of the UN sit on the Council, each of them elected by the General Assembly.
The Council's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) assesses the human rights record of all 193 UN Member States every four years.
The Council's Special procedures are independent experts who investigate and report on specific human rights thematic and country mandates.
Treaties are legally binding documents, consented to by Governments. By adopting international treaties, States agree to be legally bound to uphold the individual rights and freedoms of everyone under their jurisdiction. Ten committees of experts monitor countries' compliance with the treaties they have ratified.
UN Human Rights manages a number of databases ranging from jurisprudence information repositories to interactive dashboards.