A new study supported by the APF will examine how effectively the UN Human Rights Council draws on expert advice and recommend ways to bolster its efficacy in responding to pressing human rights issues.

The unique study will provide an important contribution to the review of the Human Rights Council, which was established in 2006 and is required to evaluate its work and functioning after five years.

To develop options for addressing human rights challenges, the Council can seek advice from a broad range of sources, including:

• its Special Procedures, Expert Working Groups and the human rights treaty bodies
• the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and other specialised UN agencies
• national human rights institutions
• non-government organisations
• fact-finding missions, expert consultations and participants in panel events organised by the Council during each of its sessions.

Some of these sources of expert advice are well used by the Council, while others have never been used. To date, however, no thorough analysis of all these options has been prepared.

The study, being undertaken in partnership with the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, will outline the possibilities for expert advice and explore the lessons learnt from those that have been used.

It will also develop recommendations on how to improve the use and utility of expert advice in the Council and propose a new, powerful tool to strengthen the use of existing expert advice in the Council.

As part of this research project, the APF was invited to participate in a high-level conference on Reviewing the work and functioning of the Human Rights Council: What are the priority issues?, held from 14 – 16 January 2010 at Wilton Park in the United Kingdom.

The conference brought together senior policy makers from all UN regional groups, UN and other human rights experts, as well as non-governmental organisations, to identify major issues to be considered during the review.

The participation of the APF ensured that issues of concern to national human rights institutions were considered by conference participants.

It will also inform a broader advocacy strategy being developed by the APF to enhance the engagement of NHRIs in three key UN human rights mechanisms: the Universal Periodic Review; the Special Procedures; and the human rights treaty bodies.

The outcomes of the Wilton Park conference will be provided to the open-ended intergovernmental working group on the review of the work and functioning of the Human Rights Council, which is scheduled to meet later in 2010.