Human Rights Council to Hold its Sixtieth Regular Session from 8 September to 8 October 2025
The United Nations Human Rights Council will hold its sixtieth regular session from 8 September to 8 October 2025 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
The session will open at 10 a.m. on Monday, 8 September under the presidency of Ambassador Jürg Lauber of Switzerland. The opening will be addressed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk. The Council will be meeting in the Assembly Hall from 8 September to 3 October and in Room XVI from 6 to 8 October.
During the session, the Council will hold 37 interactive dialogues with the High Commissioner, Special Procedures mandate holders, expert mechanisms, investigative mechanisms, and representatives of other bodies. It will hold dialogues with the High Commissioner on, among other topics, Myanmar and Sri Lanka under agenda item two; the Democratic People's Republic of Korea under agenda item four; and Haiti and Ukraine under agenda item 10. It will also hold an enhanced interactive dialogue with the High Commissioner and the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement under agenda item nine.
During the session, the Council will hold five panel discussions on unilateral coercive measures; discrimination and violence against intersex persons; youth and human rights; the rights of Indigenous Peoples; and the integration of a gender perspective throughout its works and that of its mechanisms. It will additionally hear presentations of the country and thematic reports of the United Nations Secretary-General, including his synthesis report on human rights and climate change and his report on reprisals against those who cooperate with the United Nations.
Reports and oral updates will be presented on the human rights situations in Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Sudan and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan under agenda item two; Belarus, Burundi, Ukraine, Nicaragua, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Russian Federation, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Syrian Arab Republic under agenda item four; Haiti, the Central African Republic, Somalia, Libya, Cambodia, Ukraine and Yemen under agenda item 10; and on the Democratic Republic of the Congo under both agenda items two and 10.
At the end of the session, the Council will elect seven members of its Advisory Committee, and will appoint a new Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Central African Republic if it decides to extend the mandate.
The final outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review of 15 States will also be considered, namely those of Kyrgyzstan, Kiribati, Guinea, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Spain, Lesotho, Kenya, Armenia, Guinea-Bissau, Sweden, Grenada, Türkiye, Guyana, Kuwait and Nicaragua.
A detailed agenda and further information on the sixtieth session can be found on the session’s webpage. Reports to be presented are available here. All meetings are broadcast on UN Web TV.
First Week of the Session
The sixtieth regular session will open on Monday, 8 September under the presidency of Ambassador Jürg Lauber. Under agenda item two on the annual report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General, the Council will be addressed by High Commissioner Volker Türk, who will present an update to his annual report on the situation of human rights across the world. This will be followed by an enhanced interactive dialogue on the reports ofthe High Commissioner and the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar on the situation of human rights in Myanmar; an interactive dialogue on the report of the Office of the High Commissioner on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka; an enhanced interactive dialogue on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan based on an oral update by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan and a report by the Office of the High Commissioner; and an interactive dialogue on the report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan, which will continue until Tuesday, 9 September.
On Tuesday, after the conclusion of the Sudan dialogue, the Council will hold an enhanced interactive dialogue on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, held under agenda items two and 10, on technical assistance and capacity building, and featuring a presentation of the report of the Office of the High Commissioner’s fact-finding mission on the State. The Council will then begin its general debate under agenda item two, which will continue on the morning of Wednesday, 10 September. Following that, the Council will commence considerations under agenda item three on the promotion and protection of all human rights, holding three interactive dialogues: one with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence; and two dialogues on the right to development with the Special Rapporteur and Expert Mechanism on the subject.
As Thursday, 11 September, will be a United Nations holiday, the Council will resume on Friday, 12 September, holding two interactive dialogues in the morning session with the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, and the Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order. The focus of the afternoon session will be unilateral coercive measures, with the Council holding its biennial panel on the subject, the theme of which will be the “Impact of unilateral coercive measures and overcompliance on the right to food and food security”, followed by an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights.
Second Week of the Session
The second week of the session will begin on Monday, 15 September with a panel discussion on discrimination and violence against intersex persons. This will be followed by resumed discussions with the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, and three further interactive dialogues with the Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, and the Special Rapporteur on hazardous substances and wastes.
Tuesday, 16 September will start with the biennial panel on youth and human rights, the theme of which will be the “Role of youth in fostering peaceful societies and creating an enabling environment for the enjoyment of human rights by all”. Subsequently, following the conclusion of the dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on hazardous substances and wastes, there will be two interactive dialogues with the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The Council will hold four more interactive dialogues on Wednesday, 17 September, respectively on the reports of the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, of the Secretary-General on human rights and climate change, of the Working Group on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas, and of the High Commissioner on the panel discussion on promoting and protecting economic, social and cultural rights held during the Council’s fifty-seventh session.
On Thursday, 18 September, the Council will hold an interactive dialogue on the report of the Office of the High Commissioner on the right to privacy in the digital age, after which it will hear presentations of thematic reports prepared by the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner; briefings by the President of the Economic and Social Council and the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission; and presentations of reports by the Working Group on the right to development, and by the open-ended intergovernmental Working Group to elaborate the content of an international regulatory framework on the regulation, monitoring and oversight of the activities of private military and security companies. This will be followed by the general debate under agenda item three.
The Council’s work under agenda item four, on human rights situations that require the Council’s attention, will begin on Friday, 19 September, when it will hold four interactive dialogues, respectively on the oral update of the Group of Independent Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus, the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burundi, the oral update of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, and the report of the High Commissioner on the situation of human rights in Nicaragua.
Third Week of the Session
The session’s third week will begin on Monday, 22 September with two interactive dialogues with the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation. This will be followed by an enhanced interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner’s report on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea since 2014, and two oral updates from the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic and the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua.
The Council will begin its general debate under agenda item four on Tuesday, 24 September, followed by an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples under agenda items three and five, the latter on human rights bodies and mechanisms, and a closed meeting on the Council’s complaint procedure.
Wednesday, 24 September will see the Council hold its annual panel on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, with this year’s discussions focused on a just transition to sustainable energy systems. In addition, three interactive dialogues will be held on Wednesday under agenda item five, on the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples’ report, the Secretary-General’s report on reprisals against those who seek to cooperate or have cooperated with the United Nations, and the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee’s study on the human rights implications of new and emerging technologies in the military domain, which will continue on the morning of Thursday, 25 September.
Also on Thursday, the Council will hold its general debate under agenda item five, before commencing its consideration of the outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review for Kyrgyzstan, Kiribati, Guinea, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Spain, Lesotho, Kenya, Armenia, Guinea-Bissau, Sweden, Grenada, Türkiye, Guyana, Kuwait and Nicaragua.
Fourth Week of the Session
The fourth week will begin with the final adoptions of the outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review on Monday, 29 September, followed by the Council’s general debate under agenda item six on the Review. The Council will then hear the presentation of the High Commissioner’s report on implementation of Council resolution 31/36 on Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan under agenda item two, before commencing its general debate under agenda item seven on the human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories.
Tuesday, 30 September will begin with the Council’s annual discussion on the integration of a gender perspective throughout its work and that of its mechanisms. Following that, it will conclude its debate under agenda item seven, before beginning its general debate under agenda item eight, on follow-up to and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. The day will end with another closed meeting on the Council’s complaint procedure.
The Council’s focus on Wednesday, 1 October will be on agenda item nine on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance and follow-up to and implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. It will hold two interactive dialogues on the reports of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent and the report of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, followed by an enhanced interactive dialogue with the High Commissioner and the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement. Wednesday will end with the presentation of the reports of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Effective Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, the Ad Hoc Committee on the Elaboration of Complementary Standards to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the Group of Independent Eminent Experts on the Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, followed by the beginning of the general debate under agenda item nine.
The general debate will conclude in the morning of Thursday, 2 October, after which the Council will open its agenda item 10 on technical assistance and capacity building and hold four interactive dialogues: the first with the High Commissioner on the topic of improving the human rights situation in Haiti with the participation of his human rights expert on the country; the second with the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Central African Republic; the third with the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia; and the fourth on the Office of the High Commissioner’s report on technical assistance and capacity-building in Libya.
The dialogue on Libya will continue on the morning of Friday, 3 October, after which two more interactive dialogues will be held with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia and with the High Commissioner, who will present an oral update on the findings in his Office’s report on the situation of human rights in Ukraine. The Council will then hear presentations of the Secretary-General’s report on promotion and protection of human rights in Cambodia, and the High Commissioner’s reports on the implementation of technical assistance in Yemen and on his Office’s human rights adviser programme. It will end the week with its general debate under agenda item 10.
Fifth Week of the Session
The fifth and final week of the Council will largely be devoted to action on draft resolutions and decisions, which will commence on Monday, 6 October and is scheduled to conclude on Wednesday, 8 October. The Council’s final tasks on Wednesday will be to appoint a new Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Central African Republic if it decides to extend the mandate, elect Advisory Committee members for seven vacant seats, adopt its session report ad referendum, and close its sixtieth regular session.
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 sixtieth session is as follows: Albania (2026); Algeria (2025); Bangladesh (2025); Belgium (2025); Benin (2027); Bolivia (Plurinational State of) (2027); Brazil (2026); Bulgaria (2026); Burundi (2026); Chile (2025); China (2026); Colombia (2027); Costa Rica (2025); Côte d’Ivoire (2026); Cuba (2026); Cyprus (2027); Czechia (2027); Democratic Republic of the Congo (2027); Dominican Republic (2026); Ethiopia (2027); France (2026); Gambia (2027); Georgia (2025); Germany (2025); Ghana (2026); Iceland (2027); Indonesia (2026); Japan (2026); Kenya (2027); Kuwait (2026); Kyrgyzstan (2025); Malawi (2026); Maldives (2025); Marshall Islands (2027); Mexico (2027); Morocco (2025); Netherlands (Kingdom of the) (2026); North Macedonia (2027); Qatar (2027); Republic of Korea (2027); Romania (2025); South Africa (2025); Spain (2027); Sudan (2025); Switzerland (2027); Thailand (2027); and Viet Nam (2025).
The term of membership of each State expires in the year indicated in parentheses.
The President of the Human Rights Council in 2025 is Jürg Lauber (Switzerland). The four Vice-Presidents are Salma Rasheed (Maldives), Claudia Fuentes Julio (Chile), Razvan Rusu (Romania), and Paul Empole Losoko Efambe (Democratic Republic of the Congo). Mr. Efambe also serves as Rapporteur of the Geneva-based body.
The dates and venue of the sixtieth session are subject to change.
Information on the sixtieth session can be found here, including the annotated agenda and the reports to be presented.
For further information, please contact Pascal Sim (simp@un.org) and Matthew Brown (matthew.brown@un.org).
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HRC26.008E