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ISHR has published ‘scorecards’ for States seeking election to the UN Human Rights Council for 2027-2029 to help inform voting States’ decisions in the upcoming election.

This year, 15 countries are candidates for election to the UN's main human rights body. All countries must improve their records. Join our campaign for the Human Rights Council elections!

ISHR introduces a new on-line course on advocacy for environmental human rights defenders, a practical, self-paced resource for activists, community leaders, and allies to defend the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment using UN and regional mechanisms.

UN experts officially warned Russian authorities they were looking at allegations of laws placing strict and discriminatory burdens on the work of Indigenous rights groups and activists.

ISHR has published ‘scorecards’ for States seeking election to the UN Committee on NGOs 2027-2030 to help inform voting States’ decisions in the upcoming election.

The Committee on NGOs – which determines which NGOs can or cannot participate in UN meetings – will face elections in April 2026. Join ISHR’s campaign to ensure States nominate and vote for candidates who will defend civil society’s access to and participation in the UN!

Are you a human rights defender working on democratic backsliding and/or racial justice, keen to use the UN to push for change at home? If so, apply for the 2026 edition of ISHR’s flagship training, the Human Rights Defender Advocacy Programme (HRDAP)!

In a first-of-its-kind investigation into the closed-door negotiations of the UN’s budget in New York, ISHR uncovers how a small group of States - led by China and Russia - have coordinated efforts to block and slash funding for the UN’s human rights work through political manoeuvring and influence. At a moment of sweeping UN reform and financial crisis, these efforts - compounded by the US failure to pay their UN membership fees and outstanding debts - pose an existential threat to the UN’s human rights system.

Organisations from around the world condemn US and UK sanctions targeting human rights organisations and stand in solidarity with human rights defenders working to uphold international law in the face of Israel’s genocide and colonial apartheid against the Palestinian people.

At France’s review by the UN Committee against Torture, the case of Adama Traoré illustrated grave concerns about police violence and impunity. The French government must now take concrete steps to implement the Committee's recommendations.