INFO NOTE ON UN SPECIAL PROCEDURES – NOVEMBER 2021
This is the 48th 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; Business enterprises; Disability; Extreme poverty; Housing; Independence of judges and lawyers; Minority issues; Sale of children; Violence against women; Water and sanitation
Upcoming country visits: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Hungary, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Maldives, Mauritania, Mexico, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nepal, Pakistan, Paraguay, Portugal, Serbia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, United States of America
Special Rapporteur on violence against women: focus on SOGIESC
Ms. Reem Alsalem delivering her first statement
to the UN General Assembly (photo via UN Web TV)
In July 2021, Ms. Reem Alsalem (Jordan) was appointed a new UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women for a three-year tenure. One of the five priorities for her upcoming work will be the intersections between gender-based violence against women, sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.
“For many women and girls, the fact that they live outside patriarchal norms related to heteronormativity and gender norms, puts them at increased risk of gender-based violence. Yet, the violence they face is still not taken as seriously as it should be. They require a more assertive response by Member States and others in fulfilment of their international human rights obligations,” stated Ms. Alsalem approaching the UN General Assembly on 5 October 2021.
Ms. Alsalem will make her first fact-finding mission to Mongolia, and it has been tentatively scheduled from 29 November to 8 December 2021. Civil society groups interested in providing the Special Rapporteur with information on violence against women, particularly LBTI women, may send their submissions by 22 November 2021 to [email protected] (2,500 words maximum). More information on the call here.
If you need support from ILGA World, please contact Kseniya Kirichenko, UN Programme Manager, at [email protected].
Call for inputs
| Mandate | Call | Deadline | Additional Info |
| NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities | Call for inputs: Report on Artificial Intelligence and the rights of persons with disabilities (to be presented at the HRC 49 in Mar 2022) | 3 Nov 2021 | Read more
Questionnaire |
| NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Call for inputs: Country visit to the United States of America (planned from 8 to 22 Nov 2021), on the human rights situation of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities | 7 Nov 2021 | Read more |
| NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children | Call for inputs: Report on a practical approach to addressing the sale and sexual exploitation of children (to be presented at the HRC 49) | 10 Nov 2021 | Read more |
| NEW!!! Working Group on business and human rights | Call for inputs: Information note to examine links between corporate political engagement practices and responsible business conduct | 18 Nov 2021 | Read more |
| NEW!!! Special Rapporteur on violence against women | Call for inputs: To inform the Special Rapporteur’s Country visit to Mongolia (planned from 29 Nov to 8 Dec 2021) | 22 Nov 2021 | Read more |
| Working Group of experts on people of African descent
|
Call for inputs: Country visit to Portugal (planned in Nov 2021) | 22 Nov 2021 | Read more |
| Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing
and Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
|
Call for inputs: Overview on laws and regulations at national, federal state or local level that prohibit or sanction begging, staying, sleeping, easting or undertaking any other life sustaining activities in public spaces |
30 Nov 2021 |
|
| NEW!!! 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 |
| Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights | Call for inputs: Social protection: a reality check (to be presented at the HRC 50) | 20 Dec 2021 | Read more |
| NEW!!! 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 |
: 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), 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 |
| Portugal | African Descent | Nov 2021 TBC |
| Lebanon | Extreme poverty |
1-12 Nov 2021 |
| POSTPONED!!! 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 |
15- 22 Nov 2021 |
| Serbia | Freedom of expression |
15 – 24 Nov 2021 |
| Nepal | Extreme poverty |
22 Nov-3 Dec 2021 |
| NEW!!! Sri Lanka | Slavery | 26 Nov – 3 Dec 2021 |
| NEW!!! Mongolia | Violence against women |
29 Nov- 8 Dec 2021 |
| NEW!!! Maldives | Arbitrary detention | 29 Nov- 10 Dec 2021 |
| Italy | Hazardous substances and wastes | 30 Nov – 13 Dec 2021 |
| NEW!!! Serbia | Truth | 6-10 Dec 2021 |
| NEW!!! Mauritania | Slavery | 4 – 13 May 2022 |
| Ethiopia | Extreme poverty |
7-18 Nov 2022 |
| Pakistan | Extreme poverty |
5-16 Dec 2022 |
: Mandate frequently considers LGBTI issues