Human Rights Council to Hold its Sixty-Second Regular Session from 15 June to 7 July 2026
The United Nations Human Rights Council will hold its sixty-second regular session from 15 June to 7 July 2026 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
The session will open at 10 a.m. on Monday, 15 June, under the presidency of Ambassador Sidharto Reza Suryodipuro of Indonesia. The opening will be addressed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, who will present his annual report. The Council will be meeting in the Assembly Hall of the Palais des Nations.
Over almost four weeks, the Council will consider more than 60 reports presented by the Secretariat of the United Nations and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, human rights experts and other investigative bodies on numerous topics and relevant to the situation of human rights in 20 countries. In total, the Council will hold 25 interactive dialogues.
During the session, the Council will hold interactive dialogues with and hear presentations from the High Commissioner on his annual report and on attacks by Iran against Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan under agenda item two; on anti-personnel mines under agenda item three; on Venezuela, Nicaragua and Myanmar under agenda item four; and on Georgia, Colombia and Ukraine under agenda item 10.
The Council will host enhanced interactive dialogues under agenda item two with the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, and under agenda item four with the Commission of Inquiry on the Situation of Human Rights in North Kivu and South Kivu Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Also under agenda item two, the Council will hold an interactive dialogue with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and in Israel.
Several panel discussions will be held during the session on climate financing, the empowerment of women and girls in and through sport, domestic violence against women and girls, and human rights violations experienced by women and women in decision-making and diplomacy under agenda item three, and on technical cooperation and capacity-building in supporting States in the full and effective realisation of the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health under agenda item 10.
Additionally, under agenda item three, the Council will convene interactive dialogues on international solidarity, health, freedom of expression, education, summary executions, sexual orientation and gender identity, leprosy (Hansen’s disease), climate change, migrants, trafficking, violence and discrimination against women and girls, peaceful assembly and association, transnational corporations, judges and lawyers, extreme poverty, and internally displaced persons.
It will also hear presentations of thematic reports under agenda item three, including the report on the first session of the open-ended intergovernmental working group on the elaboration of a draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the right to early childhood care, and reports by the Secretary-General, the High Commissioner and his Office.
As for agenda item four, the Council will additionally hold interactive dialogues on human rights situations in Burundi and Belarus. It will also hear a report from the Working Group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises on the fourteenth session of the Forum on Business and Human Rights under agenda item five.
The final outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review of 13 States will also be considered under agenda item six, namely those of Micronesia, Lebanon, Mauritania, Nauru, Rwanda, Nepal, Saint Lucia, Oman, Austria, Australia, Georgia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Sao Tome and Principe.
Further, under agenda item 10, the Council will hear a presentation of the Secretary-General’s interim report on the situation of human rights in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, and a presentation of the Office of the High Commissioner’s report on technical assistance in South Sudan.
A detailed agenda and further information on the sixty-second session can be found on the session’s web page. Reports to be presented are available here. All meetings of this session will be broadcast on UN Web TV.
First Week of the Session
The sixty-second regular session will open on Monday, 15 June, under the presidency of Ambassador Sidharto Reza Suryodipuro. After the opening, the Council will begin considerations under agenda item two, and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, will present his annual report. Subsequently, the Deputy High Commissioner will present an oral update on the human rights consequences resulting from the unprovoked attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran against Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. This will be followed by two enhanced interactive dialogues, the first on an oral update by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan and the second with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea. The day will conclude with an interactive dialogue with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and in Israel.
On Tuesday, 16 June, the Council, after finishing its dialogue on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, will begin an interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner’s annual report. Subsequently, it will begin discussions under agenda item three on the promotion and protection of all human rights, holding an interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity. Wednesday, 17 June, will see the conclusion of that dialogue, followed by three additional interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on the right to health, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, and the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, the latter of which will conclude on Thursday, 18 June. There will be three further interactive dialogues on Thursday with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; and the Special Rapporteur on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy (Hansen’s disease) and their family members.
On the final day of the first week, 19 June, the Council will hold its annual panel discussion on the adverse impacts of climate change on human rights, focusing on climate financing to address the adverse impacts of climate change on human rights. This will be followed by the conclusion of the interactive dialogue on discrimination against persons affected by leprosy, and an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change.
Second Week of the Session
A major theme of the Council’s discussions in its second week will be the rights of women and girls. On Monday, 22 June, the Council will hold three interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants; the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children; and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences. Then on Tuesday, 23 June, the Council will for the first time hold a panel discussion on the intensification of efforts to empower women and girls in and through sport, followed by two interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises.
The theme will continue on Wednesday, 24 June, with the Council’s annual discussion on women’s rights, which will address domestic violence against women and girls in its first half, and the commemoration of the Internation Day of Women in Diplomacy focusing on women’s right to work and representation in decision-making in the second half. Preceding the second half will be an oral report by the Office of the High Commissioner on implementation of the United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy across its programmes and operations, and an interactive dialogue with the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls. Thursday, 25 June, will see three more interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, and the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, the last of which will conclude on Friday, 26 June.
Subsequently on Friday, the Council will hear a presentation of the High Commissioner’s report on the impact of anti-personnel mines on the enjoyment of all human rights, with particular emphasis on economic, social and cultural rights, as well as the presentation of thematic reports under agenda item three, including the report on the first session of the open-ended intergovernmental working group on elaboration of a draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the right to early childhood care, and reports by the Secretary-General, the High Commissioner and his Office.
The Council will then begin activities under agenda item four on human rights situations that require the Council’s attention, holding an interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner’s report on the situation of human rights in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. At the end of the day, it will hold a closed complaints procedure meeting under agenda item five on human rights bodies and mechanisms.
Third Week of the Session
The Council will return to agenda item four on Monday, 29 June, holding an enhanced interactive dialogue on the oral update of the Commission of Inquiry on the Situation of Human Rights in North Kivu and South Kivu Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, followed by two interactive dialogues on the oral update of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burundi and with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus. At the end of the day, the Council will hear presentations from the High Commissioner on the situation of human rights in Nicaragua and Myanmar, and from the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises on the fourteenth session of the Forum on Business and Human Rights, the latter under agenda item five.
On Tuesday, 30 June, the Council will commence its consideration under item six of the outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review of Micronesia, Lebanon, Mauritania, Nauru, Rwanda, Nepal, Saint Lucia, Oman, Austria, Australia, Georgia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Sao Tome and Principe, which will conclude on Wednesday, 1 July.
The Council will hear three more presentations on Thursday, 2 July on the reports of Trust Funds under agenda item six, and on the High Commissioner’s report on cooperation with Georgia and his oral update on enhancement of technical assistance and capacity-building to assist Colombia in the implementation of the recommendations made by the Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence and Non-Repetition under agenda item 10 on technical assistance and capacity-building. Thursday will also see an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance under agenda item nine on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, follow-up to and implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. In addition, the Council will hold its biannual panel discussion on technical cooperation, the theme of which will be technical cooperation and capacity-building in supporting States to realise the right of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. The day will end with another closed complaints procedure meeting under agenda item five.
Two interactive dialogues will be held on Friday, 3 July under agenda item 10. The first dialogue will address the oral presentation by the High Commissioner regarding his Office’s periodic report on the situation of human rights in Ukraine, and the interim report of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine. The second dialogue will address the Office of the High Commissioner’s report on technical assistance to the Government of South Sudan. Following this, the Council will act on draft resolutions and decisions, which will continue into the fourth week of the session.
Fourth Week of the Session
The final week of the Council will be devoted to voting on draft resolutions and decisions and the appointment of the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes; the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; and the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The session will conclude on Tuesday, 7 July.
The Human Rights Council
The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system, made up of 47 States, which is responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe. The Council was created by the United Nations General Assembly on 15 March 2006 with the main purpose of addressing situations of human rights violations and making recommendations on them.
The composition of the Human Rights Council at its sixty-second session is as follows: Albania (2026); Angola (2028); Benin (2027); Bolivia (Plurinational State of) (2027); Brazil (2026); Bulgaria (2026); Burundi (2026); Chile (2028); China (2026); Colombia (2027); Côte d’Ivoire (2026); Cuba (2026); Cyprus (2027); Czechia (2027); Democratic Republic of the Congo (2027); Dominican Republic (2026); Ecuador (2028); Egypt (2028); Estonia (2028); Ethiopia (2027); France (2026); Gambia (2027); Ghana (2026); Iceland (2027); India (2028); Indonesia (2026); Iraq (2028); Italy (2028); Japan (2026); Kenya (2027); Kuwait (2026); Malawi (2026); Marshall Islands (2027); Mauritius (2028); Mexico (2027); Netherlands (Kingdom of the) (2026); North Macedonia (2027); Pakistan (2028); Qatar (2027); Republic of Korea (2027); Slovenia (2028); South Africa (2028); Spain (2027); Switzerland (2027); Thailand (2027); United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (2028); and Viet Nam (2028).
The term of membership of each State expires in the year indicated in parentheses.
The President of the Human Rights Council in 2026 is Sidharto Reza Suryodipuro (Indonesia). The four Vice-Presidents are Tsegab Kebebew Daka (Ethiopia), Riia Salsa-Audiffren (Estonia), Marcelo Vázquez Bermúdez (Ecuador), and Marcos Gómez Martínez (Spain). Mr. Gómez Martínez also serves as Rapporteur of the Geneva-based body.
The dates and venue of the sixty-second session are subject to change.
Information on the sixty-second session can be found here, including the annotated agenda and the reports to be presented.
For further information, please contact Pascal Sim, Human Rights Council Media Officer (simp@un.org) and Matthew Brown, Human Rights Council Public Information Officer (matthew.brown@un.org).
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HRC26.006E