Human rights situations in countries across the globe were discussed during the 30th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva from 14 September to 2 October 2015. Burundi, Syria, Sudan, Ukraine, Yemen and many more – the list of countries where the human rights situation is alarming remains regrettably long. Besides country-specific situations, the Council addressed a wide variety of thematic human rights issues. The abolition of the death penalty, which remains one of the key priorities for the European Union, as well as the promotion and respect for human rights, countering violent extremism, gender equality and the respect for the rights of Indigenous peoples.

The results of HRC30 are solid. As Ambassador Peter Sørensen, Head of the EU Delegation to the UN noted: “During the past three weeks, the Council has demonstrated its swift preventative role in emerging crises. At the same time, it remains a crucial forum for drawing the world’s attention to long-lasting and systematic human rights violations, as they have been ongoing for years in Syria, and for decades in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”

In view of the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in New York, the EU together with Luxembourg and Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on 16 September organized a high-level panel discussion on “Post-2015 and Human Rights: The Challenges and Opportunities of Implementation”, with a focus on the role of human rights in the 2030 Agenda and the challenges of the way ahead.

Read here the country situations discussed during the Council session:  http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/un_geneva/press_corner/all_news/news/2015/20151002_hrc30_en.htm