INFO NOTE ON UN SPECIAL PROCEDURES – DECEMBER 2021
This is the 49th monthly info note by ILGA World on UN Special Procedures and sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC).
This issue includes:
Call for inputs: African descent; Development; Disappearances; Extreme poverty; Freedom of religion; Independence of judges and lawyers; Minority issues; Trafficking; Truth, justice, reparation and guarantees on non-recurrence; Unilateral coercive measures; Violence against women; Water and sanitation
Upcoming country visits: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritania, Mexico, Mozambique, Niger, Pakistan, Paraguay, Serbia, Singapore, Switzerland, Tunisia
Call for inputs
| Mandate | Call | Deadline | Additional Info |
| NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion | Call for inputs: Report on the rights of persons belonging to religious or belief minorities in situations of conflict (to be presented at the HRC 49 in Mar 2022) | 3 Dec 2021 | Read more |
| NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on violence against women | Call for inputs: To provide updated information on the implementation of the Femicide Watch initiative | 3 Dec 2021 | Read more |
| Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers | Call for inputs: Report on undue interferences lawyers face in the free and independent exercise of the legal profession (to be presented at the HRC 50 in Jun 2022) | 6 Dec 2021 | Read more |
| NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Call for inputs: Report on conflict prevention through the protection of the human rights of minorities (to be presented at the HRC 49 in Mar 2022) | 6 Dec 2021 | Read more |
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Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
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Call for inputs: Social protection: a reality check (to be presented at the HRC 50) | 20 Dec 2021 | Read more |
| Special Rapporteur on water and sanitation | Call for inputs: Reports on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples (to be presented at the HRC 51 in Sep 2022); and people living in impoverished rural areas (to be presented to the 77th session of the General Assembly in Oct 2022). | 31 Dec 2021 | Read more |
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NEW!!! Working Group of experts on people of African descent |
Call for inputs: Country visit to Switzerland (planned in Jan 2022) | 7 Jan 2022
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Read more
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NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence |
Call for submissions: Report on the roles and responsibilities of non-state actors (armed groups and other NSAs) in transitional justice processes |
14 Jan 2022 | Read more |
| NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons
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Call for inputs: Report on the limits of current legal and policy frameworks that contribute to risks of trafficking in persons in the agricultural sector (to be presented at the HRC 50 in Jun 2022) | 31 Jan 2022 | Read more |
| NEW!!! Working Group on enforced disappearances | Call for inputs: Study to mark the 30th anniversary of the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance | 2 Feb 2022 | Read more |
| NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures | Call for inputs: reports on “secondary sanctions, civil and criminal penalties for circumvention of sanctions regimes” and “Unilateral sanctions in the cyber world”(to be presented at the HRC and GA) | 28 Feb 2022 | Read more |
| NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on the right to development | Call for inputs: Report on COVID-19 recovery policies in line with the 2030 Agenda and the right to development (to be presented at the HRC and the GA) | 1 Mar 2022 | Read more |
: requests information on LGBTI persons
Country visits by the Independent Expert on SOGI
The UN Independent Expert on SOGI, Victor Madrigal-Borloz, undertakes 1 to 3 fact-finding country visits per year.
He visited Tunisia in 2021, Ukraine in 2019, and Georgia and Mozambique in 2018. In 2017, his predecessor Prof. Vitit Muntarbhorn visited Argentina.
In March 2018, Victor Madrigal-Borloz made 12 country visit requests. On 4 July 2018 Malta invited the Independent Expert to visit their country. The Independent Expert also requested a visit to Japan (8 October 2019), Tunisia (19 November 2019), India and Colombia (both 7 January 2020), Cambodia (28 March 2020), and the United States of America (26 July 2021).
In this section, you may find information about current status of the requests. Up-to-date information about country visits may be found here.
If your country is planned for the Independent Expert’s visit and you wish to engage with ILGA on this, please contact us ([email protected]).
| Country | Current Status |
| Argentina* | Visit conducted on 1-10 Mar 2017. End of Mission Statement: English – Spanish Press Release: English – Spanish Country visit report: E / F / S / A / C / R |
| Armenia* | Request to postpone (17 Apr 2018) |
| Burkina Faso | Reminder visit request – for 2021 (17 Jan 2020) |
| Cambodia | Proposed dates September 2021 (14 Dec 2020) |
| Colombia* | Request to postpone (7 Apr 2020) |
| Georgia* | Visit conducted on 25 Sep to 5 Oct 2018. End of Mission Statement: English – Georgian Press Release: English – Georgian Country visit report: E / F / S / A / C / R |
| Ghana* | Reminder visit request – for 2021 (7 Jan 2020) |
| India* | Visit request (7 Jan 2020) |
| Japan* | Visit request for second half of 2020 (8 Oct 2019) |
| Kenya* | Reminder visit request – for 2021 (7 Jan 2020) |
| Malta* | Invitation Country Visit (4 Jul 2018) |
| Nepal | Reminder visit request – for 2020 (7 Jan 2020) |
| Mozambique* | Visit conducted on 3-10 Dec 2018. End of Mission Statement: English – Portuguese Press Release: English – Portuguese Country visit report: E / F / S / A / C / R |
| Poland* | Reminder visit request – for 2020 (7 Jan 2020) |
| Sri Lanka* | Request to postpone to 2020 (2 Oct 2019). Background note |
| Thailand* | Reminder visit request – for 2020 (7 Jan 2020) |
| Tunisia* | Visit conducted on 8 -18 Jun 2021 End of Mission Statement: English – Arabic – French Press Release: English – Arabic – French |
| Ukraine* | Visit conducted on 30 Apr to 10 May 2019. End of Mission Statement: English – Ukrainian Press Release: English – Russian – Ukrainian Country visit report: E / F / S / A / C / R |
| NEW!!! United States of America* | Visit request – for the fourth quarter of 2022 (26 Jul 2021) |
* Countries with standing invitations. A standing invitation is an open invitation extended by a Government to all thematic special procedures. By extending a standing invitation States announce that they will always accept requests to visit from all special procedures.
Upcoming country visits by other mandates
This information is regularly updated by the OHCHR here.
To find out how you can support the visits, please contact the respective mandate-holders at their e-mail addresses, available here.
| Country | Mandate | Dates |
| POSTPONED!!! Mexico | Internally displaced persons | 15-27 Mar 2021 |
| POSTPONED!!! Paraguay | Minority Issues | 24 May – 4 Jun 2021 |
| POSTPONED!!! Cyprus | Disappearances | 21-30 Jun 2021 |
| POSTPONED!!! Singapore | Terrorism | 12-19 Jul 2021 |
| POSTPONED!!! Bosnia and Herzegovina | Mercenaries | 3-11 Oct 2021 |
| POSTPONED!!! Kyrgyzstan | Extreme poverty |
1-12 Nov 2021 |
| POSTPONED!!! Mozambique | Summary Executions |
6- 21 Nov 2021 |
| POSTPONED!!! Serbia | Freedom of expression |
15-24 Nov 2021 |
| Serbia | Truth | 6-10 Dec 2021 |
| NEW!!! Niger | Freedom of assembly |
6-16 Dec 2021 |
| NEW!!! Costa Rica | Indigenous peoples | 6-17 Dec 2021 |
| NEW!!! Switzerland | African descent |
Jan 2022 TBC |
| NEW!!! Tunisia | Arbitrary detention |
24 Jan – 4 Feb 2021 |
| NEW!!! Brazil | Freedom of assembly |
14-25 Feb 2022 |
| NEW!!! Kyrgyzstan | Discrimination against women |
14-25 Feb 2022 |
| Mauritania | Slavery | 4 – 13 May 2022 |
| Ethiopia | Extreme poverty |
7-18 Nov 2022 |
| Pakistan | Extreme poverty |
5-16 Dec 2022 |
| NEW!!! Ecuador | Extreme poverty |
28 Aug- 8 Sep 2023 |
: Mandate frequently considers LGBTI issues