Information note for National Human Rights Institutions

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56^th Session of the Human Rights Council, 18 June - 12 July 2024
Room XX, Palais des Nations, Geneva

Brief overview

Panels and Annual discussions

The list of panels and annual discussions is available on the following link by selecting the relevant session number: https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/regular-sessions/session56/regular-session

Reports to be considered

The list of reports to be considered during this session is available on the following link: https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/regular-sessions/session56/list-reports

Documentation for the Session

Relevant documents and information, as well as reports submitted by Special Procedures mandate holders and the annotated agenda will be available on the HRC's webpage: https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/regular-sessions/session56/documentation

Broadcasting the Session

Media and outreach tools

The meetings of the Council are broadcast live via UN webcast: http://webtv.un.org.
Updates during the session are also shared through the HRC Alert: SMS service (free subscription through the Extranet for mobiles registered in Switzerland only), Sched and X (@UN_HRC & #HRC56)

NHRI Participation

NHRIs with “A” status accreditation, the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI – formerly known as the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights) and regional coordinating bodies of NHRIs (speaking on behalf of its “A” status members) can:

Participate through oral interventions either in person or through pre-recorded video messages in the HRC plenary debates, including during the adoption of the outcome of the UPR of the country by the Council, the interactive dialogue following the presentation of a country mission report by a special procedures mandate holder and panels or annual discussions;
Make written submissions either as written statements or NHRI documentation which will be issued with an UN document symbol^[1];

[1] According to paragraph 28 of Human Rights Council resolution 16/21 on the Review of the work and functioning of the Human Rights Council, the “A” status NHRI of the country concerned shall be entitled to intervene immediately after the country concerned during the interactive dialogue, following the presentation of a country mission report by a special procedure mandate holder and also immediately after the State under review at the adoption of the UPR report in plenary. Resolution 16/21 also grants “A” status NHRIs the right to nominate candidates as special procedures mandate holders (paragraph 22(a)).

Written Submissions

NHRIs can make written submission on any agenda item of the Council sessions. Written submission can be in the form of NHRI documentation or a written statement.

The written submissions must be submitted through the new online registration platform “EVENTS” which is accessible at the following link: https://events.ohchr.org . When uploading NHRI documentation or written statements on the EVENTS platform, please refer to the guide for uploading written submissions.

IMPORTANT: When accessing the platform for the first time, NHRIs, GANHRI, and regional coordinating bodies speaking on behalf of "A" status accredited member NHRIs will need first to create their unique profile. The creation of this account is crucial for NHRIs’ planning to engage with the HRC as well as with multiple mechanisms. NHRIs, GANHRI, and regional coordinating bodies of NHRIs are therefore encouraged to carefully consult the updated technical guidelines for the creation of NHRI’s accounts in the EVENTS platform.

Kindly note that the deadline for uploading of written submission for the 56^th session of the Human Rights Council is 14^th June 2024. The Secretariat will not be able to ensure the timely processing and circulation of statements submitted after the deadline.

Written Statements
“A” status NHRIs may submit written statements to the Human Rights Council. Statements should be no longer than 2,000 words and should be relevant to the Council's Programme of Work of the 56^th session. Please refer to the technical guidelines available on the HRC’s webpage for more information on the written statements.
Please note that the deadline for submitting written statements on the EVENTS platform for the 56^th session of the Human Rights Council is 14^th June 2024. The Secretariat will not be able to ensure the timely processing and circulation of statements submitted after the deadline.
NHRI Documentation
“A” status NHRIs are entitled to submit documentation at Council sessions. NHRIs may submit written documentation in the form of reports, policy papers, etc.
The documents:
- should relate to a particular HRC agenda item;
- will receive an official UN document symbol (e.g. A/HRC/../NI/...);
- will not be edited;
- will not be translated (should therefore be in Arabic, English, French or Spanish); and
- should not exceed a reasonable number of pages (i.e. 20 pages maximum).
The deadline for submitting documents on the EVENTS platform for the 56^th Session of the Human Rights Council is 14^th June 2024.

Oral Interventions

"A" status accredited NHRIs, GANHRI and regional coordinating bodies of NHRIs speaking on behalf of “A” status accredited members can make oral interventions on any agenda item of the Council sessions. Oral interventions can take the form of an in-person statement or pre-recorded video message in one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Only the Head, Secretary General or their designated representative in possession of a written authorization may be entitled to make an oral intervention.

In-person statements
‘A’ status NHRIs, the GANHRI, and regional coordinating bodies speaking on behalf of ‘A’ status accredited member NHRIs wishing to make an in-person intervention are required:
- to send a request to the GANHRI Geneva Representative, Ms. Katharina Rose (k.rose@ganhri.org).
- ensure that all person addressing the Council on behalf of the ‘A’ status NHRI or GANHRI and their delegation register online on the following link: https://indico.un.org/event/1004372/ to get accreditation to access the room XX where the statement will be read. For more details, please see procedure in paragraph 8.
Regional coordinating bodies may present an in-person statement if they only speak on behalf of member NHRIs with “A” status accreditation with the GANHRI. At the beginning of the statement, the regional coordinating committees must state the names of the “A” status NHRIs on whose behalf they speak.
NOTE: In-person statements are subject to speaking time limits as enumerated in paragraph 7 of the information note.
Video statements
"A" status NHRIs, the GANHRI, and regional coordinating bodies speaking on behalf of "A" status accredited member NHRIs wishing to make a video statement are required to make a request through letter addressed to the National Institutions and Regional Mechanisms Section. The letter must comply with following requirements:
- Submitted on official letterhead and signed by the head of the NHRI or the Secretary General;
- Indicate the HRC session concerned, the agenda item and specific segment of the programme of work in which video message will be made;
- Indicate the full name (FAMILY NAME, First name) and functional title of the person who will deliver the statement (name of the person must appear exactly as it appears in his/her passport or formal identity document) as a designated representative;
In addition to the letter of request, the following documents must be submitted along with the video message:
- A colour copy of the person’s passport or of formal identity document.
- A transcript of the video statement to facilitate interpretation. In the absence of a transcript, the video statement will not be admissible.
NOTE: All pre-recorded video messages must be shared through WeTransfer by the 14^th June 2024 with Ms Cynthia Radert (cynthia.radert@un.org); Ms Faizah Sidi (faizah.sidi@un.org); and Ms Ola Adawi (ola.adawi@un.org).
The request to make a video statement and accompanying documents (passport/identity document and transcript of video statement) should be sent through email by the 14^th June 2024 to Ms Cynthia Radert (cynthia.radert@un.org) with a copy to Ms Faizah Sidi (faizah.sidi@un.org) and Ms Ola Adawi (ola.adawi@un.org).
Rules regarding the content and technical specification
Statements delivered by video message are subject to the same rules as oral statements delivered in person. The video messages are subject to the same time limits as, and should mirror as closely as possible, the in-person statements delivered in person. In particular, the following rules must be strictly observed:
- The video statement must consist of a single shot of one individual delivering a statement, seated against a neutral, monochrome background;
- The camera should be focused on the person’s face, and should not move during the shot;
- No symbols, flags, banners, or other images are permitted in the shot, either in the background or on the clothing of the person delivering the statement.
- The video statement must include captioning. NHRIs are encouraged to consider including international sign language, to enhance participation of persons with disabilities. In the absence of captioning, the video statement will not be admissible.
- Must be within the speaking time limits prescribed for oral interventions as enumerated in paragraph 7.
The minimum technical specifications for the video are as follows:
- Resolution:
  - video resolution min 640x480 max 1024x768, frame rate 30 fps
  - audio resolution 44100 Hz, 16 bits, stereo
- AVI/WMV
  - video encoding WMV3 (Windows Media Video 9)
  - audio encoding WMA2 (Windows Media Audio 2)
- MOV
  - video encoding H.274
  - audio encoding MP3 or AAC
Delivery of the video statement: The video statement will be projected in the room under the same conditions as an oral statement delivered in the rooms. The rules of procedure and practices of the Council apply in the same manner to video statements as to all other statements

Speaking time for oral interventions

SPEAKING TIME MODALITIES HRC56 NHRIs/NGOs

Type of discussion	Speaking time per intervention	Time allocated per debate
Interactive dialogues	1 minute and 30 seconds*	15 minutes in total
Panel discussions	1 minute and 30 seconds	Two speaking slots 2 NHRIs and 4/6 NGOs each slot
UPR outcomes	2 minutes	2 minutes

* “A” status NHRI of the country concerned shall be entitled to intervene immediately after the country concerned during the interactive dialogue, following the presentation of a country mission report by a special procedure mandate holder and immediately after the State under review at the adoption of the UPR report in plenary.

“A” Status NHRIs intervening immediately after the country concerned during presentation of country mission report by special procedure mandate holder can speak for 3 minutes instead of 1 minute and 30 seconds. “A” Status NHRIs of the country concerned are also entitled to speak for 3 minutes immediately after the concerned country during interactive dialogues with investigative mechanisms, should they wish to do so.

The time allocation during the adoption of the UPR outcomes in plenary is 2 minutes.

Accreditation to attend the Session

Accreditation of NHRIs shall be given to:

institutions which are accredited by GANHRI;
the GANHRI as the representative body of NHRIs globally; and
regional coordinating committees of NHRIs, speaking on behalf of “A” status institutions, in line with the strict criteria agreed upon by the GANHRI at its 19^th annual general meeting in March 2007.

NHRIs that wish to accredit representatives to the 56^th session of the Human Rights Council should:

register online on the following link: https://indico.un.org/event/1004376/
Upload the request on official letter head on the online platform (clearly state the title and the dates of the session the NHRI wishes to attend, e.g. “[Insert name of NHRI] wishes to send the following members to attend the [insert relevant session number] session of the Human Rights Council ([insert dates of session])…”; be signed by the President or main representative of the NHRI; indicate the first name and family name of the person(s) who will represent the NHRI at the Council session (NB: names must appear exactly as they appear on the person’s ID document and family names must be capitalized).

Additional information on the accreditation to the Council’s session is available at the following link: https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/accreditation

Each member of a national institution delegation has to be individually registered online.

NHRI Parallel Events

‘‘A” status NHRIs, the GANHRI, and regional coordinating bodies on behalf of "A" status accredited member NHRIs accredited for the 56^th Session of the Council may organize parallel events of relevance to the work of the Human Rights Council, subject to availability of conference rooms.

NHRIs, GANHRI, and regional coordinating bodies on behalf of "A" Status accredited member NHRIs may submit their requests for NHRI side events through the new online registration platform “EVENTS”, which is accessible at the following link:https://events.ohchr.org .

IMPORTANT: When accessing the platform for the first time, NHRIs, GANHRI, and regional coordinating committees will need first to create their unique profile. The creation of this account is crucial for NHRIs’ planning to engage with the HRC as well as with multiple mechanisms. NHRIs, GANHRI, and regional coordinating bodies are therefore encouraged to carefully consult the updated Technical Guidelines for the creation of NHRI’s accounts in the EVENTS platform.

Given the reduced number of rooms allocated compared to the pre-COVID-19, the Secretariat may not be able to accommodate all requests. Slots will therefore be allocated according to availability and on a first-come, first-served basis. In order to accommodate as many requests as possible, only one side event per requesting organizer would be accommodated and each side event will be for one hour only. Organizers are requested to respect allotted time strictly and leave the room in time in order to ensure the smooth organization of the following side event.

Conference room booking requests will be received by the Secretariat as of now. Please be advised that the Secretariat does not provide interpretation for parallel meetings. NHRIs should therefore provide their own interpreters, if they so wish, and inform the Secretariat accordingly ahead of time.

Participants requiring a badge to attend exclusively side events (and not the main session) will need to register at the ad-hoc page.

Contacts - OHCHR

For further information, please contact the National Institutions and Regional Mechanisms Section (NIRMS) at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Mr. Vladlen Stefanov
Chief, National Institutions and Regional Mechanisms Section
Tel: + 41 (0) 22 928 9377
Fax: + 41 (0) 22 928 9018
vladlen.stefanov@un.org

Ms. Cynthia Radert
Deputy Chief, National Institutions and Regional Mechanisms Section
cynthia.radert@un.org

Ms. Faizah Sidi
National Institutions and Regional Mechanisms Section
faizah.sidi@un.org

Ms. Ola Adawi
National Institutions and Regional Mechanisms Section
ola.adawi@un.org

Contacts - GANHRI Geneva

For further information, NHRIs may also contact the GANHRI Geneva Representative, Ms. Katharina Rose (k.rose@ganhri.org) and copy Ms Carolina Crittin (c.crittin@ganhri.org) and Marie-Valentine Shaw (m.shaw@ganhri.org).
Tel + 41 (0) 22 917 16 74