Human Rights Council to Hold its Sixty-Third Regular Session from 7 September to 7 October 2026

The United Nations Human Rights Council will hold its sixty-third regular session from 7 September to 7 October 2026 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

The session will open at 10 a.m. on Monday, 7 September under the presidency of Ambassador Sidharto Reza Suryodipuro of Indonesia. The opening will be addressed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.  The Council will be meeting in the Assembly Hall of the Palais des Nations.

During the session, the Council will hold 37 interactive dialogues with Special Procedures mandate holders, expert mechanisms and investigative mechanisms, and on reports and updates of the High Commissioner, his Office and the Secretary-General. It will hear an oral update by the High Commissioner on El Obeid, North Kordofan, Sudan under agenda item two and interactive dialogues with the High Commissioner on Haiti and Ukraine under agenda item 10. It will also hold enhanced interactive dialogues on the reports of the High Commissioner and the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar under agenda item two; and with the High Commissioner and the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement under agenda item nine, and on the report of the High Commissioner on the Democratic Republic of the Congo under agenda item 10.

During the session, the Council will hold six panel discussions on promoting and protecting economic, social and cultural rights within the context of addressing inequalities; the fortieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development; the fifteenth anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training; the sixtieth anniversary of the International Covenants on Human Rights; the rights of Indigenous Peoples; and the integration of a gender perspective throughout its works and that of its mechanisms.

It will additionally hear presentations of country and thematic reports of the United Nations Secretary-General, including his report on actionable pathways in mobilising sufficient climate financing and his report on reprisals against those who cooperate with the United Nations.

Reports and oral updates will be presented on the human rights situations in Sudan, Myanmar, Afghanistan and the Syrian Arab Republic under item two; Belarus, Burundi, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicaragua, the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Ukraine under agenda item four; and on Haiti, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Marshall Islands, Somalia, Cambodia and Yemen under agenda item 10. At the end of the session, the Council will appoint two mandate holders of Special Procedures, and elect five members to different Working Groups and seven members of its Advisory Committee.

The final outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review of 15 States will also be considered, namely those of Namibia, Niger, Mozambique, Estonia, Paraguay, Belgium, Denmark, Palau, Somalia, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Latvia, Sierra Leone, Singapore and Nicaragua.

A detailed agenda and further information on the sixty-third session can be found on the session's webpage. Reports to be presented are available here. All meetings are broadcast on UN Web TV.

First Week of the Session

The sixty-third regular session will open on Monday, 7 September under the presidency of Ambassador Sidharto Reza Suryodipuro. Under agenda item two, on the annual report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General, the Council will be addressed by High Commissioner Volker Türk, who will present an update on the situation of human rights across the world. This will be followed by an interactive dialogue on the report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan; an enhanced interactive dialogue on the reports of the High Commissioner and the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar on the situation of human rights in Myanmar; and an interactive dialogue on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, based on an oral update and report by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan.

This will be followed by an oral update of the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, the High Commissioner's oral update on El Obeid, North Kordofan, Sudan, and the written update of the Office of the High Commissioner on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka, after which the Council will hold its general debate under agenda item two, which will continue until lunch time of Tuesday, 8 September. Next, the Council will commence considerations under agenda item three on the promotion and protection of all human rights, holding two interactive dialogues with the Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order and the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights.

The morning of Wednesday, 9 September, will begin with an interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on the human rights of older persons, followed by another one with the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences. That afternoon, the Council will hold a panel discussion on "promoting and protecting economic, social and cultural rights within the context of addressing inequalities." As Thursday, 10 September, will be a United Nations holiday, the Council will resume on Friday, 11 September, holding its biennial panel on the right to development, followed by two dialogues on the right to development with the Special Rapporteur and Expert Mechanism on the subject. The afternoon and first week of the Council will conclude with the beginning of the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on hazardous substances and wastes.

Second Week of the Session

The second week of the session will begin on Monday, 14 September, with the conclusion of the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on hazardous substances and wastes. This will be followed by three consecutive interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation; the Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights; and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. Tuesday, 15 September, begins with the high-level panel on the fifteenth anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights Education and Training, followed by an interactive dialogue with the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and another with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence.

On Wednesday, 16 September, the Council will hold three interactive dialogues: with the Working Group on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas; on the report of the Secretary-General on actionable pathways in mobilising sufficient climate financing; and on the High Commissioner's analytical report on the human rights of women and children in conflict and post-conflict situations. The Council will then hear presentations of thematic reports prepared by the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner; a briefing by the President of the Economic and Social Council; and presentations of reports by the Working Group on the right to development, by the open-ended intergovernmental Working Group to elaborate the content of an international regulatory framework on the regulation, monitoring and oversight of the activities of private military and security companies, and with the intergovernmental Working Group on the human rights of older persons. This will be followed by the general debate under agenda item three.

Thursday, 17 September, will start with a high-level panel on the sixtieth anniversary of the International Covenants on Human Rights, followed by the continuation of the general debate under agenda item three, which will conclude at the end of the day. The Council's work under agenda item four, on human rights situations that require the Council's attention, will begin on Friday, 18 September, when it will hold four interactive dialogues on the oral update of the Group of Independent Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus, the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burundi, the report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and the report of the High Commissioner on the situation of human rights in Nicaragua.

Third Week of the Session

The session's third week will begin on Monday, 21 September with three interactive dialogues on the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, the report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran, and on the oral update of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine. Next will be the oral update of the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua, followed by the general debate under agenda item four. The general debate will continue all through Tuesday, 22 September, and the day will conclude with a closed meeting on the Council's complaint procedure.

Wednesday, 23 September, will see the Council hold its annual panel on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, followed by interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the Expert Mechanism on the rights of Indigenous Peoples under agenda items three and five. Later that day, under agenda item five, the Council will begin an interactive dialogue on the Secretary-General's report on reprisals against those who seek to cooperate or have cooperated with the United Nations.

This will continue until the morning of Thursday, 24 September, after which the Council will hold an interactive dialogue with the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee, followed by its general debate under agenda item five. That afternoon, the Council will commence agenda item six and its consideration of the outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review adoptions for Namibia, Niger, Mozambique, Estonia, Paraguay, Belgium, Denmark, Palau, Somalia, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Latvia, Sierra Leone, Singapore and Nicaragua. These will continue all day through Friday, 25 September.

Fourth Week of the Session

The fourth week will begin with the final adoptions of the outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review on Monday, 28 September, followed by the Council's general debate under agenda item six on the Review. The Council will then hear the presentation of the High Commissioner's report on the implementation of Council resolution 31/36 on Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan under item two, before commencing its general debate under agenda item seven on the human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories.

Tuesday, 29 September, will begin with the Council's annual discussion on the integration of a gender perspective throughout its work and that of its mechanisms. Following that, it will conclude its debate under agenda item seven, before beginning its general debate under agenda item eight on follow-up to and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. The day will end with the commencement of agenda item nine on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance and follow-up to and implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, and an enhanced interactive dialogue with the High Commissioner and the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement.

The Council's focus on Wednesday, 30 September, will be on agenda item nine. It will hold two interactive dialogues on the reports of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent and the report of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. Wednesday will end with the presentation of the reports of the Ad Hoc Committee, and the Group of Independent Eminent Experts, followed by the beginning of the general debate under agenda item nine.

The general debate will conclude in the morning of Thursday, 1 October, after which the Council will open its agenda item 10 on technical assistance and capacity building. It will then hold two interactive dialogues: the first with the High Commissioner on the topic of improving the human rights situation in Haiti, with the participation of his human rights expert on the country, and the second with the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Central African Republic. The Council will then hold an enhanced interactive dialogue on the Office of the High Commissioner's report on challenges and barriers to the full realisation of human rights of people of the Marshall Islands, stemming from the State's nuclear legacy, followed by an interactive dialogue on the Office of the High Commissioner's report on technical assistance to Somalia.

This discussion will conclude on the morning of Friday, 2 October, after which the Council will hold an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia and another on the oral update on the findings of the Office of the High Commissioner's report on the situation of human rights in Ukraine. After this, the fourth week will conclude with an enhanced interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner's report on the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Fifth Week of the Session

The fifth and final week of the Council will begin on Monday, 5 October, with the presentations of the Secretary-General's report on the promotion and protection of human rights in Cambodia, and the High Commissioner's reports on the implementation of technical assistance in Yemen and on his Office's human rights adviser programme, followed by its general debate under agenda item 10. That afternoon, the Council will start to take action on draft resolutions and decisions, which will continue through Tuesday, 6 October, until Wednesday, 7 October.

The Council's final tasks on Wednesday will be to appoint a new Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation and a Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, provided the Council votes to extend the mandate. The Council will also appoint two members to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, a member to the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls, a member to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, and a member to the Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination. The Council will also elect, in accordance with its annual programme of work, Advisory Committee members for the seven vacant seats, before adopting its session report ad referendum, and closing its sixty-third regular session.

The Human Rights Council

The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system, made up of 47 States, which is responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe. The Council was created by the United Nations General Assembly on 15 March 2006 with the main purpose of addressing situations of human rights violations and making recommendations on them.

The composition of the Human Rights Council at its sixty-third session is as follows: Albania (2026); Angola (2028); Benin (2027); Bolivia (Plurinational State of) (2027); Brazil (2026); Bulgaria (2026); Burundi (2026); Chile (2028); China (2026); Colombia (2027); Côte d'Ivoire (2026); Cuba (2026); Cyprus (2027); Czechia (2027); Democratic Republic of the Congo (2027); Dominican Republic (2026); Ecuador (2028); Egypt (2028); Estonia (2028); Ethiopia (2027); France (2026); Gambia (2027); Ghana (2026); Iceland (2027); India (2028); Indonesia (2026); Iraq (2028); Italy (2028); Japan (2026); Kenya (2027); Kuwait (2026); Malawi (2026); Marshall Islands (2027); Mauritius (2028); Mexico (2027); Netherlands (Kingdom of the) (2026); North Macedonia (2027); Pakistan (2028); Qatar (2027); Republic of Korea (2027); Slovenia (2028); South Africa (2028); Spain (2027); Switzerland (2027); Thailand (2027); United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (2028); and Viet Nam (2028).

The term of membership of each State expires in the year indicated in parentheses.

The President of the Human Rights Council in 2026 is Sidharto Reza Suryodipuro (Indonesia). The four Vice-Presidents are Tsegab Kebebew Daka (Ethiopia), Riia Salsa-Audiffren (Estonia), Marcelo Vázquez Bermúdez (Ecuador), and Marcos Gómez Martínez (Spain). Mr. Gómez Martínez also serves as Rapporteur of the Geneva-based body.

The dates and venue of the sixty-third session are subject to change.

Information on the sixty-third session can be found here, including the annotated agenda and the reports to be presented.

For further information, please contact Pascal Sim, Human Rights Council Media Officer ([email protected]) and Matthew Brown, Human Rights Council Public Information Officer ([email protected]).

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not an official record. English and French versions of our releases are different as they are the product of two separate coverage teams that work independently.

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