What is the UPR?

At the Universal Periodic Review, each State sees their human rights record analysed by other UN member States, and declares what actions they have taken to improve it.

NGOs get to contribute at each stage of the process, and especially by:

• submitting a report that will be included in the report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights about your country
• engaging in advocacy in Geneva ahead of the review to raise key issues with diplomats, UN representatives, and other stakeholders
• making an oral statement when the government of your country accepts or takes note of recommendations from other governments.

Why should you submit a report?

• to highlight specific human rights violations and emblematic cases affecting the LGBTI community in your country
• provide independent data and statistics that may be missing from the official state report
• influence the specific recommendations that other States will issue to the government of your country

Can ILGA World help us?

Yes! We can provide capacity-building support, review your draft submission, offer strategic advice on framing strong and actionable recommendations, and help coordinate joint submissions with other organisations to maximise impact and strengthen collective advocacy.

Send your report to upr (a) ilga (dot) org ahead of your submission on the UPR registration system to receive input, comments, or suggestions!

• Please share your report with us at least two weeks before the submission deadline to ensure we can support you

Which resources can you already consult?

• ILGA World’s SOGIESC UPR Advocacy toolkit in six languages
• Laws in your country affecting LGBTI people: see the ILGA World Database
• For the report submission: new technical guidelines | country-specific matrix on individual country pages

Key details

• Deadline to submit the report on the UPR registration system: see below
• Submission portal: https://uprdoc.ohchr.org
• Support contact at ILGA World: upr (a) ilga (dot) org

Session 53

• Deadline for NGO/other stakeholder submissions: 10 April 2026
• Countries scheduled for review: Suriname, Greece, Samoa, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Hungary, Papua New Guinea, Tajikistan, United Republic of Tanzania, Antigua and Barbuda, eSwatini, Trinidad and Tobago, Thailand, Ireland
  • For the United States of America, only organisations that contributed to the 2025 pre-session reports will be invited to submit updates. No new call for submissions will be opened
• Working group session happening in October-November 2026

Session 54

• Deadline for NGO/other stakeholder submissions: 17 July 2026
• Countries scheduled for review: Togo, Syrian Arab Republic, Venezuela, Iceland, Zimbabwe, Lithuania, Uganda, Timor Leste, Republic of Moldova, Haiti, South Sudan, Myanmar, Sudan, Ukraine
• Working group session happening in January-February 2027

Follow this link to download the list of deadlines for every country under review during the fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review.

Once countries obtain recommendations from other States during the UPR working group sessions, the work of civil society is still not done. Our groups can monitor how States follow up on their human rights commitments, and submit mid-term reports to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

These are voluntary reports, and an important advocacy and monitoring opportunity to

• track progress on accepted recommendations relevant to their work
• document areas where implementation is lacking
• provide updated evidence and case examples
• re-engage with national authorities and international partners to encourage stronger implementation of recommendations before the next UPR cycle.

Next countries due for mid-term reports:

Countries that were under review in January-February 2024 during the 45th UPR working group session

• Saudi Arabia, Senegal, China, Nigeria, Mexico, Mauritius, Jordan, Malaysia, Central African Republic, Monaco, Belize, Chad, Congo, Malta

Countries that were under review in April-May 2024 during the 46th UPR working group session

• New Zealand, Afghanistan, Chile, Viet Nam, Uruguay, Yemen, Vanuatu, North Macedonia, Comoros, Slovakia, Eritrea, Cyprus, Dominican Republic,  Cambodia.