The UK’s role on the Human Rights Council

As an active and committed member of the UN Human Rights Council, the UK is committed to:

• promoting and protecting human rights of all people, without discrimination of any kind  
• ensuring human rights and the Human Rights Council are at the heart of the UN
• encouraging countries to ratify UN human rights instruments
• promoting co-operation on human rights between members
• support the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals
• consult all UN members, not just members of the Council
• promote the right to education for all
• supporting the Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking and Modern-Day Slavery led by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.
• tackle gender based violence
• work to combat torture, wherever it exists

How does the UK support the UN's human rights work?

The UK is a significant donor for the UN’s human rights work. Our funding includes:

• £2.5m a year to support the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
• £150m of extra funding for UN bodies (2007-2008)
• £1.5m towards the United Nations Development Fund for Women's Women, Peace and Security Programme
• £750,000 towards the United Nations Development Programme's Millennium Development Campaign
• £300,000 for the Action 2 Global Programme to promote human rights at country level
• £8.5 billion over the next 10 years to support education - mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia
• £1.5 billion to help combat AIDS (2005-2008) – the UK is the second largest bilateral donor.

Recent actions we’ve taken include:

• ensured the Council addressed Darfur and Burma through Special Sessions
• repeatedly call attention in Council debates to victims around the world, including in Zimbabwe, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Iran
• led work to create a new UN Special Rapporteur (a UN independent expert) on Contemporary Forms of Slavery in 2007.

What is the Universal Periodic Review?

The Universal Periodic Review looks at every UN members’ human rights record.

We welcome this because it should bring greater fairness, balance and transparency to consideration of countries at the Council and alert it to specific human rights violations.

We strongly support the Universal Periodic Review and will continue to work to make it comprehensive, candid and coherent, with co-operation at its heart.

Standing for re-election to the Council

The UK is currently standing for re-election to the Council.

FCO Minister for the UN and previous UN Deputy-Secretary General, Lord Malloch-Brown, spoke to the Council in March 2008:

‘We wish to continue to work with others to deliver on the promise the Council holds. To build a strong and effective Council that can and will fulfil its mandate. This is why we are standing for re-election to the Council in May.’