Girls’ Rights
Ambassadorial Dialogue
ADVANCING THE RIGHT TO HEALTH AND GLOBAL HEALTH EQUITY THROUGH THE UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW
Co-organized by the Global Center for Health Diplomacy and Inclusion (CeHDI) and South Centre
8 September 2026
4:00 to 6:00 pm
Followed by cocktail
Kyoto Building, 3rd Floor, Chemin du Pommier 42, 1218 Le Grand Saconnex
(also online)
This Ambassadorial Dialogue will bring together ambassadors and senior delegates to exchange views, in a spirit of South-South cooperation, on how the UPR can serve as a practical mechanism for advancing the right to health and promoting global health equity. The dialogue will bridge work at the Human Rights Council and the World Health Organization, at a decisive moment for the Pandemic Agreement and equitable access to health products. The event will launch the South Centre Toolkit on Leveraging the UPR to Advance the Right to Health of Women and Girls, and present CeHDI’s Health and Rights Observatory, a digital platform for analysing UPR health outputs and tracking right to health commitments, both designed for direct use by delegations.
(more…)
TOOLKIT: Leveraging the Universal Periodic Review to Advance the Rights of Women and Girls to the Highest Attainable Standards of Health
By Daniel Uribe Terán
This Toolkit serves as an operational guide for State officials, policymakers, civil society organisations (CSOs), national human rights institutions (NHRIs), and healthcare professionals on how to leverage the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism. The primary focus is advancing the rights of women and girls to the highest attainable standards of physical and mental health, with a specific focus on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR).
The toolkit outlines the international normative frameworks, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), that establish state obligations to respect, protect, and fulfil these rights, as set out in the availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality (AAAQ) framework. It details evidence-gathering strategies using a Human Rights-Based Approach to Data (HRBAD), guidelines for drafting impactful stakeholder or “shadow” reports, and the integration of specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) recommendations. Furthermore, it emphasises national implementation mechanisms, showcasing digital tracking innovations like Paraguay’s System for Monitoring Recommendations (SIMORE) and the Pacific region’s Integrated Management and Planning of Actions Open Source Software (IMPACT OSS). Real-world state reporting dynamics are illustrated through 4th-cycle UPR report excerpts from Mexico, South Africa, and Costa Rica.
(more…)
Advancing Women and Girls’ Health in a Time of Converging Crises
South Centre Briefing Session (April 2025) Report
The South Centre hosted a high-level briefing session aimed at advancing the health rights of women and girls in the face of multiple global challenges. The meeting coincided with the South Centre’s 30th anniversary and the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, bringing together ambassadors, health experts, and representatives of international organisations to discuss the protection and advancement of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in the Global South.
(more…)
