Chapter Nine. Advocacy at the United Nations
Chapter Nine. Advocacy at the United Nations
As part of any advocacy strategy, advocates should evaluate whether to bring the matter to the attention of an international or regional human rights body. The United Nations and regional human rights bodies engage in a variety of activities to protect, monitor, and advance human rights worldwide. International and regional treaties provide the legal framework for international human rights protections and, together with the designated bodies that monitor and enforce them, provide activists with many potential avenues for improving human rights conditions around the world. Governments that resist or ignore one means of addressing human rights violations might be encouraged or compelled through another mechanism.
International and regional human rights mechanisms allow advocates to present information about local human rights violations directly to the international community. Advocates and activists should, however, think of advocacy as far more than the submission of information to the United Nations. Reports to international bodies can be used effectively as part of a larger advocacy strategy to change laws, policy, and practices. As many advocates have discovered, advocacy before international mechanisms can garner media attention, boosting local advocacy efforts.
The United Nations' international human rights mechanisms serve several functions. They enforce human rights standards, monitor human rights conditions, report on human rights violations, directly improve human rights conditions, and create treaties to protect human rights. The international human rights system functions best when civil society organizations, academia, and community activists all participate actively. By providing credible examples of human rights violations, advocates draw attention to systemic problems.
Although accessing the international human rights system may seem daunting, people with a basic understanding of the UN human rights system and procedures can easily take part in international human rights advocacy. The United Nations has two general categories of human rights bodies: charter-based mechanisms and treaty-based mechanisms. The options for civil society organizations and groups to participate in advocacy on the international level depend on the specific activities of the mechanism they are targeting. Successful organizations engage with multiple mechanisms.
A. UN Charter-based Mechanisms
A. UN Charter-based Mechanisms
The UN human rights mechanisms that derive their power from the UN Charter (the treaty that created the United Nations) include the Human Rights Council and Special Procedures. "Charter-based" human rights bodies have the authority to review human rights practices of all members of the United Nations, regardless of whether a particular country has ratified a particular human rights treaty.