Chairing the inaugural session of this event, Ambassador Omar Zniber, Permanent Representative of Morocco to the United Nations Office in Geneva and current President of the Human Rights Council (HRC) for the year 2024, presented the session’s agenda and reviewed a series of organizational and procedural issues, before declaring the session open.
He then gave the floor to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, who presented the update of his annual report on the situation of human rights in the world.
In his report, which will be the subject of a general debate on Tuesday and Wednesday, Mr. Türk painted a general picture of the situation of human rights in the world, before reviewing the situation of these rights in several hot places on the planet.
In addition to the report from the High Commission, the agenda for this session, which is being held until October 11 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, includes a busy agenda, including the examination of no less than 80 reports on the human rights situation in the world.
During the five-week session, the Council will examine more than 80 reports presented by the United Nations secretariat and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, by human rights experts and by other investigative bodies concerning numerous themes and concerning the human rights situation in nearly fifty countries.
In total, the Council will hold twenty interactive discussions with special procedures mandate holders.
Presenting the 57th session of the HRC before the accredited press at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Mr. Zniber reported an extremely busy agenda, mentioning no less than 32 draft resolutions announced for this session, or even the examination of the country situation and the appointment of new mandate holders.
The President of the Human Rights Council assured that he will ensure that the debates of this 57th session take place as best as possible, by giving more opportunities and more visibility to small island states, while emphasizing that the presidency Morocco also ensures that the Council functions as best as possible, despite the financial crisis facing the United Nations.