Chapter four
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3. Outcome Report adoption phase
This phase of the UPR is the only opportunity for civil society to make an oral statement to the Human Rights Council during the entire review. At this stage, the Government has already decided which recommendations it will accept and reject and therefore the statement cannot influence the content of the Outcome Report. However, this small window of time can be useful in highlighting the recommendations the government chose to reject and to ask the State under Review how the government plans to implement the recommendations it accepted and how civil society will participate in this process. Keep in mind that 20 minutes are allocated to 10 NGOs to deliver a two minute oral statement on the review, during the adoption of the UPR Outcome Report on a given country by the Human Rights Council.
Once again, keep in mind that there can be very senior officials who are part of a government’s delegation for this outcome report adoption by the Human Rights Council. So, if you do go to Geneva for final outcome report adoption by the Human Rights Council, look out for these individuals as you may have an opportunity to meet with somebody very senior in your government while they are in Geneva. Other suggestions for advocacy during this phase include: • Disseminate the Outcome Report and your Government’s responses to recommendations to parliamentarians, civil society partners and the media
Tip If you are unable to travel to Geneva for the adoption of the Outcome Report, consider partnering with an NGO with ECOSOC status that will be attending the Human Rights Council session and ask them to deliver a statement on your organization’s behalf. The SRI is usually in attendance during most Human Rights Council sessions and would be pleased to partner with sexual rights advocates to deliver an oral statement.
• Issue a press release and work with interested media to highlight the Outcome Report
FPAN/Nepal
Six months after the working group session, the Outcome Report for your country’s UPR will be formally adopted by the Human Rights Council. This is largely a procedural decision of the Human Rights Council where the State under Review explains which recommendations are accepted and which are rejected, including the reasons why they are rejected. Member States then have an opportunity to make brief statements and then representatives of civil society are permitted to make brief statements (approximately two minutes).
Demonstration to include sexual and reproductive health programmes and policies for young people.
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