INFO NOTE ON UN SPECIAL PROCEDURES – OCTOBER 2021
This is the 47th 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; Discrimination against women/ women and girls; Environment; Extreme poverty; Foreign debt; Housing; Human rights defenders; Unilateral coercive measures
Upcoming country visits: Cyprus, Ethiopia, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Mauritius Mexico, Mozambique, Nepal, Pakistan, Paraguay, Portugal, Serbia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, United States of America, Zimbabwe
Call for inputs
Mandate | Call | Deadline | Additional Info |
NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights | Call for inputs: for a report on the efforts to combat poverty and to protect the human rights of people in poverty in Lebanon due to the SR upcoming country visit to this country. | 10 Oct 2021 | Read more |
NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures | Call for inputs: for a report on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights in Zimbabwe due to the SR upcoming country visit to this country. | 10 Oct 2021 | Read more |
NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders | Call for inputs: Report on the situation of human rights defenders who work on issues of anti-corruption, to be presented to the 49th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in March 2022 | 15 Oct 2021 | Read more |
NEW!!! Working Group on discrimination against women and girls | Call for inputs: Report on the topic of girls’ and young women’s activism, accomplishments, challenges and opportunities for change. To be presented at the 50th session of the HRC in Jun 2022 | 15 Oct 2021 | Read more |
NEW!!! Independent Expert on foreign debt | Call for inputs: To inform the Independent Expert’s first report to the Human Rights Council, 49th session, on a vision and strategy for the work of the mandate in the coming years | 29 Oct 2021 | Read more |
NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights | Call for inputs: for a report on the efforts to combat poverty and to protect the human rights of people in poverty in Nepal due to the SR upcoming country visit to this country. | 30 Oct 2021 | Read more |
Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment | Call for inputs: Report on Toxic-free places to live, work, study and play (to be presented at the UN HRC in March 2022) | 1 Nov 2021 | Read more |
NEW!!! Working Group of experts on people of African descent | Call for written submissions: to receive an overview on the human rights situation of people of African descent in Portugal, due to the WGEPAD upcoming country visit to this country | 22 Nov 2021 | Read more |
Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing | Call for inputs: To receive an overview on laws and regulations at national, federal state or local level that may still prohibit or sanction begging, staying, sleeping, easting or undertaking any other life sustaining activities in public spaces | 30 Nov 2021 | Read more |
Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights | Call for inputs: To receive an overview on laws and regulations at national, federal state or local level that may still prohibit or sanction begging, staying, sleeping, easting or undertaking any other life sustaining activities in public spaces. | 30 Nov 2021 | Read more |
NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights | Call for inputs: Thematic report on “Social protection: a reality check”, to be presented at the 50th session of the HRC in Jun 2022 | 20 Dec 2021 | 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 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), and Cambodia (28 March 2020).
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 |
* 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!!! Mauritania | Slavery | 22 Jun – 1 Jul 2021 |
POSTPONED!!! Singapore | Terrorism | 12-19 Jul 2021 |
POSTPONED!!! Sri Lanka | Slavery | 23 Aug – 1 Sep 2021 |
Zimbabwe | Unilateral coercive measures | 18-28 Oct 2021 |
NEW!!! Mauritius | Hazardous substances and wastes | 18 Oct- 1 Nov 2021 |
Finland | Older persons | 26 Oct-4 Nov 2021 |
NEW!!! Portugal | African Descent | Nov 2021 TBC |
NEW!!! Lebanon | Extreme poverty | 1-12 Nov 2021 |
Kyrgyzstan | Extreme poverty | 1-12 Nov 2021 |
POSTPONED!!! Mozambique | Summary Executions | 6 Nov- 21 Nov 2021 |
United States of America | Minority issues | 8-19 Nov 2021 |
Hungary | Freedom of expression | 14- 22 Nov 2021 |
NEW!!! Serbia | Freedom of expression | 15 – 24 Nov 2021 |
NEW!!! Nepal | Extreme poverty | 22 Nov-3 Dec 2021 |
Italy | Toxics and human rights | 30 Nov – 13 Dec 2021 |
Ethiopia | Extreme poverty | 7-18 Nov 2022 |
Pakistan | Extreme poverty | 5-16 Dec 2022 |
: Mandate frequently considers LGBTI issues