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United Nations Human Rights Council
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The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), previously the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, is a committee that works to ensure all people can understand and use their rights, checks to make sure governments protect their citizens’ rights, and helps people whose rights were taken away. It works to make sure everyone has equal rights as listed in UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, regardless of differences like nationality, gender, lifestyle, etc. For example, everyone should have the right to go to school, to be heard, to immigrate to another country, etc. Decisions are made by 47 member nations, who are elected by the rest of the UN, through strategies such as listening to representatives from countries, leaning on human rights experts for help, using a confidential complaint system. The UNHRC was established to respond to human rights violations and foresee potential crisis situations on the international stage. This committee’s topics aim to do exactly that. For the first topic, Methods of Early Action for Refugees, member states should discuss and suggest ideas to respond quickly and effectively to human rights abuses on the international stage. For the second topic, Preventative Measures for Eliminating Human Rights Abuses, member states are expected to collaborate and suggest reasonable methods to protect citizens’ rights and hinder/mitigate further abuses in both their own countries and internationally.