INFO NOTE ON UN SPECIAL PROCEDURES (MAY 2023): CALLS FOR INPUT AND UPCOMING COUNTRY VISITS
This is the 66th monthly info note by ILGA World on UN Special Procedures: call for inputs and upcoming country visits.
This issue includes:
Call for inputs: African descent; Business enterprises; Discrimination against women and girls; Environment; Extreme poverty; Foreign debt; Hazardous substances and wastes; Human rights defenders; Independence of judges and lawyers; International order; Mercenaries; Older persons; Racism; Sale of children; Slavery; Summary executions; SOGI; Trafficking; Unilateral coercive measures; Violence against women.
Upcoming country visits: Australia; Bahamas; Bangladesh; Brazil; Botswana; Canada; Chile; Colombia; Costa Rica; Ecuador; Finland; Georgia; Honduras; Japan; Liechtenstein; Malta; Mauritius; Mauritania; Peru; Republic of Moldova; South Africa; Syrian Arab Republic; Tunisia; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; Uruguay.
Joint Submission to the Independent Expert on SOGI
The Independent Expert on SOGI is planning to produce a report on colonialism and sexual orientation and gender identity, and he is currently collecting inputs. The mandate will be seeking information on the historic and ongoing impacts of colonialism on the enjoyment of human rights by lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse (LGBT) persons.
ILGA World will be collecting information on this topic to prepare a joint submission to the Independent Expert. If you have any data relating to LGBTI communities and colonialism and would like to be included in this joint effort, please reach out to us at [email protected]. We will be receiving inputs until the 22 May 2023.
Calls for input
Mandate | Call | Deadline | Additional Info |
NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers | Call for inputs for the country visit of the Special Rapporteur to Tunisia | 01 May 2023 | Read more |
Independent Expert on older persons | Call for inputs: report on older persons in the context of climate change-induced disasters and building back better (to be presented at the GA 78) | 01 May 2023 | Read more |
Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers | Call for inputs: report on legal empowerment to expand and transform access to justice (to be presented at the GA 78) | 05 May 2023 | Read more |
Special Rapporteur on sale of children | Call for inputs for the country visit of the Special Rapporteur to Uruguay | 05 May 2023 | Read more |
Independent Expert on foreign debt | Call for inputs: report on “Multiple crises, fiscal systems and human rights” (to be presented at the GA 78) | 08 May 2023 | Read more |
NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on summary executions | Call for inputs for the country visit of the Special Rapporteur to Honduras | 12 May 2023 | Read more |
NEW!!! Working Group on the use of mercenaries | Call for input: report on “Recruitment including predatory recruitment of mercenaries and mercenary related actors” (to be presented at the HRC 54) | 15 May 2023 | Read more |
NEW!!! Working Group on the use of mercenaries | Call for input: report on “The relevance of Security Sector Reforms in addressing mercenaries and private security companies” (to be presented at the GA 78) | 15 May 2023 | Read more |
NEW!!! Independent Expert on international order | Call for input: report on “Youth participation and engagement in intergovernmental forums: Challenges and opportunities” (to be presented at the HRC 54) | 15 May 2023 | Read more |
NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on trafficking | Call for inputs for the country visit of the Special Rapporteur to Colombia | 15 May 2023 | Read more |
NEW!!! Working Group on business enterprises | Call for inputs: report on extractive sector, just transition and human rights (to be presented at the GA 78) | 15 May 2023 | Read more |
NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on violence against women | Call for inputs: report on “Nexus between Violence against Women and Girls, Nationality Laws, and Statelessness” (to be presented at the GA 78) | 15 May 2023 | Read more |
Special Rapporteur on hazardous substances and wastes | Call for submissions in advance of the visit by the Special Rapporteur to Australia | 15 May 2023 | Read more |
NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on summary executions | Call for input: report on “The investigation and documentation of gender-based killings of women and girls” | 19 May 2023 | Read more |
NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders | Call for input: report on the challenges faced by woman human rights defenders working in conflict, post-conflict or crisis-affected settings (to be presented at the GA 78) | 22 May 2023 | Read more |
NEW!!! African Descent | Call for inputs: report on “the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent reviewing the 20 years of work since its establishment and how to address more efficiently the human rights concerns of people of African descent” (to be presented at the HRC 54) | 22 May 2023 | Read more |
NEW!!! Independent Expert on SOGI | Call for inputs: report on colonialism and sexual orientation and gender identity settings (to be presented at the GA 78) | 26 May 2023 | Read more |
Special Rapporteur on racism | Call for inputs: report on “Combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance” (to be presented at the GA 78) | 26 May 2023 | Read more |
Special Rapporteur on slavery | Call for inputs for the country visit of the Special Rapporteur to Canada | 31 May 2023 | Read more |
NEW!!! Working Group on discrimination against women and girls | Call for inputs for the country visit of the Special Rapporteur to Malta | 01 Jun 2023 | Read more |
NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on environment | Call for inputs: report on “Should the interests of foreign investors trump the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment?” (to be presented at the GA 78) | 15 Jun 2023 | Read more |
NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on violence against women | Call for inputs for the country visit of the Special Rapporteur to Brazil | 16 Jun 2023 | Read more |
NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty | Call for inputs for the country visit of the Special Rapporteur to Ecuador | 01 Jul 2023 | Read more |
NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on environment | Call for inputs: report on “Promoting Environmental Democracy: Procedural elements of the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment” (to be presented at the HRC 55) | 02 Oct 2023 | Read more |
Special Rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures | Calls for inputs for the Sanctions Research Platform | 31 Dec 2023 | 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 the United States of America in 2022, 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 Fiji and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (both 24 May 2022).
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 |
Armenia* | Request to postpone (17 Apr 2018) |
Burkina Faso | Reminder visit request – for 2021 (17 Jan 2020) |
Cambodia | Visit conducted on 10–20 Jan 2023.
End of Mission Statement: English |
Colombia* | Request to postpone (7 Apr 2020) |
Fiji* | Visit request (24 May 2022) |
Georgia* | Visit conducted on 25 Sep to 5 Oct 2018.
End of Mission Statement: English – Georgian |
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) |
Mozambique* | Visit conducted on 3-10 Dec 2018.
End of Mission Statement: English – Portuguese Press Release: English – Portuguese |
Nepal | Reminder visit request – for 2020 (7 Jan 2020) |
Poland* | Reminder visit request – for 2020 (7 Jan 2020) |
Sri Lanka* | Request to postpone to 2020 (2 Oct 2019). |
Thailand* | Reminder visit request – for 2020 (7 Jan 2020) |
Tunisia* | Visit conducted on 8 -18 Jun 2021
End of Mission Statement: English – Arabic – French |
Ukraine* | Visit conducted on 30 Apr to 10 May 2019.
End of Mission Statement: English – Ukrainian |
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland* | Accepting dates: 24 Apr – 5 May 2023 (6 Feb 2023) |
United States of America* | Visit conducted on 15 – 26 Aug 2022
End of Mission Statement: English Press Release: English |
* 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 to support the visits, please contact the respective mandate-holders at their e-mail addresses, available here.
Country | Mandate | Dates |
POSTPONED!!! Singapore | Terrorism | 12 – 19 Jul 2021 |
POSTPONED!!! Bosnia and Herzegovina | Mercenaries | 3 – 11 Oct 2021 |
POSTPONED!!! Mozambique | Summary executions | 6 – 21 Nov 2021 |
POSTPONED!!! Russian Federation | Minority issues | 1 – 18 Apr 2022 |
Botswana | Disabilities | 24 Apr – 4 May 2023 |
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | Sexual orientation and gender identity | 24 Apr – 5 May 2023 |
Syrian Arab Republic | Water and sanitation | 24 Apr – 3 May 2023 |
Georgia | International order | 26 Apr – 5 May 2023 |
Liechtenstein | Foreign debt | 1 May – 31 Aug 2023 |
Chile | Environment | 3 – 12 May 2023 |
POSTPONED!!! Costa Rica | Minority issues | 4 – 16 May 2023 |
Peru | Freedom of peaceful assembly | 8 – 17 May 2023 |
NEW!!! Uruguay | Sale of children | 15 – 29 May 2023 |
Tunisia | Independence of judges and lawyers | 16 – 26 May 2023 |
Bangladesh | Extreme poverty | 17 – 29 May 2023 |
Colombia | Trafficking | 22 – 31 May 2023 |
NEW!!! Honduras | Summary executions | 22 May – 2 Jun 2023 |
NEW!!! Mauritius | Freedom of religion | 30 May – 8 Jun 2023 |
Malta | Discrimination against women and girls | 26 Jun – 7 Jul 2023 |
Costa Rica | Health | 18 – 28 Jul 2023 |
NEW!!! Japan | Business enterprises | 24 Jul – 4 Aug 2023 |
NEW!!! Brazil | Violence against women | 31 Jul – 10 Aug 2023 |
South Africa | Racism | 21 – 30 Aug 2023 |
Canada | Slavery | 23 Aug – 6 Sep 2023 |
Ecuador | Extreme poverty | 28 Aug – 8 Sep 2023 |
Australia | Hazardous substances and wastes | 28 Aug – 8 Sep 2023 |
Mauritania | Discrimination against women and girls | 25 Sep – 6 Oct 2023 |
NEW!!! Republic of Moldova | Older persons | 7 – 16 Nov 2023 |
Finland | Education | 21 – 30 Nov 2023 |
NEW!!! Bahamas | Arbitrary Detention | 27 Nov – 8 Dec 2023 |
: Mandate frequently considers LGBTI issues