55th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights

International Affairs, Peace & Human Security
55th session of UN Commission on Human Rights
22 March to 30 April 1999

The WCC, through the International Affairs, Peace & Human Security team, maintains a consultative relationship with the UN and its related agencies. One such agency is the UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR). Working cooperatively with ecumenical partners such as the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC), the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Franciscans International and the Dominicans, the WCC seeks to:

provide a space in which church-related groups advocating for human rights can make the most effective use of UN structures and system
mobilize public opinion
clarify issues such as Indigenous Peoples concerns, religious intolerance, etc.
identify issues not presently on the Commission's agenda
provide background information on specific areas of human rights concerns

For more information on the WCC's involvment in the 55th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, click to any of the following:

Press Release: The WCC prepares for the UN Commission on Human Rights
Press Release: WCC seeks new strategies for future participation at the UN Commission on Human Rights
Written intervention on Civil and political rights, including the question of religious intolerance
(item 11): Blasphemy Laws of Pakistan
Oral intervention on Civil and political rights, including the question of religious intolerance
(item 11): Support for a "culture of tolerance"
Oral intervention on Questions of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world (item 9): The situations in Indonesia and Nigeria
Oral intervention on Civil and political rights, including the question of independence of the judiciary, administration of justice, impunity (item 11): Struggle against impunity in Guatemala
Oral Intervention on Indigenous issues (item 15): Support for a global forum

Note: Links to WCC interventions are posted only after an intervention has been made.

For more information about the UN Commission on Human Rights and its work, click to the following web sites:

You may also be interested in these recent WCC statements concerning Human Rights:

Human Rights and the Churches: the New Challenges
Report on an international church visit to Indonesia, 27 January - 3 February 1999
Assembly statement on Child Soldiers
Assembly statement on human rights
Assembly statement on the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

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^© 1999 world council of churches | remarks to webeditor