The Role of the EU in UN Human Rights Reform (COST Action IS 0702)

The United Nations is involved in the promotion of human rights in a number of areas, particularly through the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights and the newly established Human Rights Council.

The European Union has great interest in the outcome of the reforms underway in both these central institutions. These include the building up of a totally new institution of universal periodic review and the ambitious reform of the human rights treaty bodies system. However, the new political power balance in the Council and the existing dangers to a fundamental reform of the treaty body system pose far-reaching challenges to the role of and contribution by the EU.

This Action deals with a concrete and topical issue of great importance for EU internal and external policy in an important area. It is moreover an Action with an innovative central component: strengthening the treaty body system with the establishment of a world court of human rights.

It is organised under the auspices of the Association of Human Rights Institutes (AHRI) in three working groups:

• The UN Human Rights Monitoring Machinery;
• The UN Human Rights Development Tools;
• The UN Human Rights Partnerships.