UPR Info (Information about UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review)
UPR Info is a non-profit and non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Geneva, Switzerland that aims at both raising awareness and providing capacity-building tools to the different actors of the Universal Period Review (UPR) process, such as United Nations Member States, NGOs, National Human Rights Institutions and civil society in general.
UPR Info is in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a new and unique mechanism of the Human Rights Council (HRC) aiming at improving the human rights situation on the ground of each of the 193 United Nations (UN) Member States.
Under this mechanism, the human rights situation of all UN Member States is reviewed every 4,5 years. 42 States are reviewed each year during three Working Group sessions dedicated to 14 States each. These three sessions are usually held in January/February, May/June and October/November.
The result of each review is reflected in an “outcome report” listing the recommendations the State under review (SuR) will have to implement before the next review.
→ The UPR is a full-circle process comprising 3 key stages:
1) Review of the human rights situation of the SuR;
2) Implementation between two reviews (4,5 years) by the SuR of the recommendations received and the voluntary pledges made;
3) Reporting at the next review on the implementation of those recommendations and pledges and on the human rights situation in the country since the previous review.