An Efficient Tool to Implement UN Treaty Bodies’ Recommendations

CCPR Centre

30 September 2019

At an expert conference co-organized with the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights on 18–19 September 2019, 30 United Nations (UN) treaty body (TB) experts, academics, national and international NGOs and governmental representatives discussed the implementation of a new mechanism aimed at improving the work of UN TBs, the TRIP: Technical Review of Implementation Progress.

A National Visit to Ensure Follow-Up of Recommendations and Increase National Ownership

The TRIP would allow filling the implementation gap in an eight years reporting cycle.

‘The UN Human Rights Committee has recently adopted an eight years cycle, as recommended by the Academic Platform on TB Review 2020’ explains Felix Kirchmeier, Coordinator of the Geneva Human Rights Platform.

‘While the eight years reporting cycle will allow the UN Human Rights Committee to review all state parties within the current structure and budget, there is a risk that not much happens during that lapse of time in term of follow-up’ underlines Felix Kirchmeier.

‘As a national visit by TBs members that would take place between two examinations of a state’s report, the TRIP would allow to consolidate the follow-up stage and to increase the role of domestic stakeholders. Ideally, if eventually all TBs would coordinate their calendars, the TRIP should consist in one visit consolidating the implementation of all TBs’ recommendations’ he adds.

Towards the 2020 Review by the UN General Assembly

The participation of UN Special Rapporteurs, development experts and staff from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights contributed to setting the TRIP into a broader context of national human rights implementation schemes.

The outcomes of the discussions will feed into the intergovernmental negotiations of a follow-up to resolution A/RES/68/268 by the UN General Assembly in 2020.