Info Note on UN Special Procedures - February 2019

Submitted by Kseniya Kirichenko on Wed, 02/20/2019 - 17:59

This is the 16^th monthly info note by ILGA on UN Special Procedures and sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC).

This issue includes:

Call for inputs: African descent; Disability; Executions; Freedom of opinion and expression; Freedom of assembly and association; Hazardous substances; Housing; Mercenaries; Poverty; Racism; Sale and sexual exploitation of children; Sexual orientation and gender identity; Violence against women; Water and sanitation

Upcoming country visits: Argentina; Bolivia; Bulgaria; Canada; El Salvador; France; Georgia; Greece; Kazakhstan; Laos; Malaysia; Mongolia; Morocco; Nigeria; Norway; Sri Lanka; Ukraine

Download the February 2019 info note on Special Procedures
as a PDF file

Call for input by the Independent Expert on SOGI

The UN Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, Victor Madrigal-Borloz, has issued a call for inputs to his upcoming thematic report: “Data collection and management”, to be presented at the 41st session of the Human Rights Council on 24 June – 12 July 2019.

The report will discuss which types of data are relevant to assess violence and discrimination based on SOGI, consider the human rights implications of such data collection and usage, and make recommendations to States.

To guide the report, the Independent Expert has requested input on the following 7 questions (abbreviated):

What are the current efforts by States to increase their knowledge of the LGBT population?
What kinds of data can be collected by government to understand the nature and extent of violence, discrimination, and disparities in health, education, civic participation and other areas?
What safeguards are in place, and what safeguards are needed, to protect the human rights of individuals providing personal data as well as individuals collecting such data?
What are the risks associated with the collection and management of data on SOGI and initiatives to overcome those?
Are there circumstances where data collection is ill-advised, such as in countries that criminalise same-sex behaviour?
When States engage in data gathering activity, to what extent is civil society able to meaningfully participate in the design and implementation of these programs?
Does the lack of a global classification scheme carry risks that data will not be useful for international comparisons or not accurately reflect the identities and lived realities of local populations?

Read the full call and questions here: English | Français | Español

The deadline for submissions is 15 March 2019.

Responses may be submitted in English, French or Spanish.

Call for inputs

Mandate	Call	Deadline	Additional Info
^NEW!Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent	Call for submissions: Country visit to Argentina (11-18 Mar 2019)	22 Feb 2019	Read more: EN \| ES
^NEW!Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression	Call for submissions: Follow-up report on country visits to Côte d’Ivoire, Honduras, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Japan and Turkey	22 Feb 2019	Read more
Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent	Call for inputs: Data and analysis on the human rights situation of people of African descent (baseline report)	28 Feb 2019	Read more: EN \| ES Data Template
Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions	Call for submissions: Country visit to Mozambique (dates TBC)	28 Feb 2019	Read more
^NEW!Working Group on mercenaries	Call for submissions: Gender and private military and security companies(thematic report to be presented at the 42^nd HRC session in Sep 2019)	28 Feb 2019	Read more EN \| FR \| ES
^NEW!Special Rapporteur on violence against women	Call for submissions: 25 years of the mandate - Current challenges and future steps	28 Feb 2019	Read more
^NEW!Special Rapporteur on safe drinking water and sanitation	Call for submissions: The human rights to water and sanitation in public spaces (thematic report to be presented at the 42^nd HRC session in Sep 2019)	28 Feb 2019	Read more Questionnaire: EN \| FR \| ES
Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance	Call for Inputs: Combatting glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other racially discriminatory ideologies (annual report to be presented at the 41^st HRC session in June 2019)	28 Feb 2019	Read more
Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance	Call for inputs: Thematic report on natural resource extraction and racial discrimination (thematic report to be presented at the 41^st HRC session in June 2019)	1 Mar 2019	Read more EN \| FR \| ES
^NEW!Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association	Call for inputs: The rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in the digital age (thematic report to the 41^st HRC session in June 2019)	14 Mar 2019	Read more
^NEW!Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children	Call for submissions: Country visit to Bulgaria (1-8 Apr 2019)	15 Mar 2019	Read more
^NEW!Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities	Call for submissions: Country visit to Canada (2-11 Apr 2019)	15 Mar 2019	Read more
^NEW!Special Rapporteur on safe drinking water and sanitation	Call for inputs: The impact of mega-projects on the human rights to water and sanitation (thematic report to the 74^th GA session in Oct 2019)	15 Mar 2019	Read more Questionnaire: EN \| FR \| ES
^NEW!Special Rapporteur on hazardous substances and wastes	Call for submissions: Principles for protecting workers rights from toxic exposures (thematic report to the 42^nd HRC session in Sep 2019)	15 Mar 2019	Read More: EN \| FR
Working Group on mercenaries	Private military and security companies in the extractive industry (thematic report to the 42nd HRC session in Sep 2019)^nd HRC session in Sep 2019)	15 Mar 2019	Read more: EN \| FR \| ES
^NEW!Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing	Call for submissions: Country visit to France (2-11 Apr 2019)	22 Mar 2019	Read more: EN \| FR
Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights	Call for inputs: Framework for realizing economic and social rights (research project expanding on report to the 32^nd HRC session in 2016)	29 Mar 2019	Read more
^NEW!Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities	CCall for inputs: The rights of older persons with disabilities (thematic report to the 74^th GA session in Oct 2019)	15 Apr 2019	Read more Questionnaire: EN \| FR \| ES

= Explicitly 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 as part of his mandate.

His predecessor, Prof. Vitit Muntarbhorn, visited Argentina in March 2017. Check his report on this visit here: EN / FR / ES / AR / RU / ZH

In March 2018, Victor Madrigal-Borloz made 12 country visit requests, and in this section you may find information about current status of the requests. Additionally, on 4 July 2018 Malta invited the Independent Expert to visit their country.

Up-to-date information about country visits may be found here.

If you wish to engage with ILGA with regard to the Independent Expert’s fact-finding visit to your country, 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
Armenia*	Request to postpone (17 April 2018)
Burkina Faso	Visit request (26 Mar 2018)
Cambodia	Visit request (26 Mar 2018)
Georgia*	Visit conducted on 25 Sep to 5 Oct 2018. End of Mission Statement: English – Georgian Press Release: English – Georgian
Ghana*	Visit request (26 Mar 2018)
Kenya*	Visit request (26 Mar 2018)
Malta*	Invitation Country Visit (4 Jul 2018)
Nepal	Visit request (26 Mar 2018)
Mozambique*	Visit conducted on 3-10 Dec 2018. End of Mission Statement: English – Portuguese Press Release: English – Portuguese
Poland*	Request to postpone (15 May 2018)
Sri Lanka*	Proposal of dates – 27 May 2019 to 7 June 2019 (31 October 2018)
Thailand*	Visit request (26 Mar 2018)
Ukraine*	Visit to be conducted from 30 Apr to 10 May 2019

* 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-holder at their email, found in the OHCHR directory.

Country	Mandate	Dates
Laos	Extreme poverty	18-29 March 2019
^NEW!Morocco	Independence of judges	20-27 March 2019
Bulgaria	Sale and sexual exploitation of children	1-8 Apr 2019
Greece	Discrimination against women	1-12 Apr 2019
Canada	Disability	2-11 Apr 2019
France	Housing	2-11 Apr 2019
Georgia	Business	3-12 Apr 2019

^NEW!El Salvador	Truth, justice and reparation	24 Apr - 3 May 2019
^NEW!Mongolia	Human rights defenders	30 Apr - 13 May 2019
^NEW!Bolivia	Foreign Debt	6-15 May 2019
Argentina	Privacy	6-17 May 2019
^NEW!Kazakhstan	Terrorism	11-17 May 2019
^NEW!Sri Lanka	Freedom of assembly and association	15-26 Jul 2019
Malaysia	Extreme poverty	12-22 Aug 2019
^NEW!Norway	Environment	12-23 Sep 2019
^NEW!Nigeria	Housing	17-26 Sep 2019
Norway	Disability	2-11 Oct 2019
^NEW!Greece	Arbitrary Detention	2-13 Dec 2019

This is the 16th monthly info note by ILGA on UN Special Procedures and sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC).

Download the February 2019 info note on Special Proceduresas a PDF file