Latest updates

The open-ended intergovernmental working group (OEIGWG) on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights hosted the first and second Inter-Sessional meetings, which took place from 7 April through 9 April. States, legal experts and civil society organisations discussed key articles including scope, mutual legal assistance and future implementation of the Legally Binding Instrument (LBI).

The Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing presented his final report on his visit to Guatemala, with recommendations seeking to address decades of displacement, dispossession of land against Indigenous Peoples, and the criminalisation of defenders.

The Escazú Ahora Chile Foundation, the Protege los Molles Foundation and ISHR demand that the investigation, arrest and legal proceedings involving Julia Chuñil's relatives be conducted in accordance with international standards of due process.

UN human rights mechanisms examined the situation in Guatemala regarding the right to adequate housing and racial discrimination, calling for an end to forced evictions against Indigenous communities and for the protection of land defenders, including Indigenous Peoples.

From 24-26 November, the 14th Forum on Business and Human Rights took place in Geneva. ISHR participated in various activities together with human rights defenders working on corporate accountability.

As the genocide in Gaza exposes deep corporate complicity, experts and human rights defenders convened in Geneva to discuss urgent paths toward accountability. This discussion unpacked how businesses, investors, and States must act now to end profiteering from atrocity crimes.

At the 11th Session of the Open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations, ISHR urged all States to include and protect language that explicitly safeguards human rights defenders, impacted communities and the environment.

As part of the NGO Forum ahead of the 85th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies convened a panel on the issue of 'AI and Human Rights in Africa: Navigating the Future of Governance and Development'.

Relatives of the Chilean Indigenous environmental defender Julia Chuñil must be granted immediate protections by the Chilean State, the Committee to Support Implementation and Compliance of the Escazú Agreement ruled, in response to a request supported by ISHR. This marks the first time the regional treaty urges a signatory State to take protective action.

Indigenous women human rights defenders (WHRDs) and women safeguarding land and community rights from across the globe gathered in Geneva from 22 to 26 September to take part in the Women Human Rights Advocacy Week (WHRD-AW) 2025.

Activists participating in the Women's Human Rights Defenders Advocacy Week responded to a call for submissions by the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders that sought to 'bring the voice of human rights defenders' to the Human Rights Council.

In a statement delivered during the 60th session of the Human Rights Council, Cressida Kuala, a human rights defender from Porgera Red Wara (River) Women's Association in Papua New Guinea, urged the Council to ensure that development projects in the affected communities are based on genuine partnership, co-ownership and benefit sharing. Read and watch the full statement below.