The implementation of internationally agreed human rights standards in national contexts requires the participation of the United Nations (UN) human rights system as well as rigorous monitoring and implementation strategies by national human rights actors.

This training course will delve into the means and mechanisms through which national actors can best coordinate their human rights monitoring and implementation efforts, enabling them to strategically navigate the UN human rights system and use the various mechanisms available in their day-to-day work.

The UN human rights system – composed of UN special procedures, fact-finding missions, UN treaty bodies and the Universal Periodic Review – forms an extensive structure to review state compliance with international human rights standards. This sophisticated architecture at the international level finds complementarity at the national level with the participation of numerous actors: governments, independent state institutions, parliaments, civil society groups and UN agencies among others. More recently, we have also seen the emergence of national human rights structures such as inter-ministerial committees, national mechanisms for implementation, reporting and follow-up, national human rights institutions and national civil society coalitions. These bodies attempt, individually or through collaborative efforts, to ensure state compliance and accountability to the recommendations emanating from the UN human rights system.

Using concrete examples, this training course will provide an overview of the UN human rights system and explore available strategies for national-level implementation of international human rights recommendations, including the many challenges that such work encounters.

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