Delivering the Right to Peace: Towards a Reinforced Role of the Human Rights Council in the UN's Peace and Security Framework

The war in Ukraine and the unfolding tragedy in the Middle East have underscored the limitations of the United Nations Security Council (SC) in addressing global threats to peace and security. This has sparked a renewed interest in SC reform, but significant changes seem unlikely in the current geopolitical landscape. In this context, there is a growing need to explore the potential role of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in addressing a broader spectrum of peace and security issues.

This policy brief Delivering the Right to Peace: Towards a Reinforced Role of the Human Rights Council in the UN's Peace and Security Framework delves into the possibilities of enhancing the HRC's involvement in the UN's peace and security functions. The brief draws insights from various case studies, including Syria in 2011, Iraq in 2014, and Ukraine in 2022 and present a set of ten recommendations aimed at enhancing the UN system's capacity to address ongoing shortcomings in its peace and security architecture by bolstering the role of human rights. These recommendations include reinforcing transitional justice as part of the HRC's involvement in peace and security, leveraging peace operations to connect the HRC and SC, and gradually integrating the HRC into discussions on SC reform.

AUTHORS

Portrait of Dr Erica Harper

Erica Harper

Head of Research and Policy Studies

Erica Harper is a practitioner-academic specializing in international criminal law, human rights law and post-conflict governance.

Adam Day

NEWS AND EVENTS

A general view of participants during the 54nd session of the Human Rights Council News

New Paper Unlocks the Potential of the UN Human Rights Council in Global Conflict Prevention

3 November 2023

Our new policy brief Delivering the Right to Peace: Towards a Reinforced Role of the Human Rights Council in the UN's Peace and Security Framework delves into the possibilities of enhancing the Human Rights Council's involvement in the UN's peace and security functions.

Read more >

MORE ON THIS THEMATIC AREA

GHRP EU News News

Bridging Geneva and Europe: advancing human rights in the digital age

2 June 2025

The Geneva Human Rights Platform has taken its work on strengthening the international human rights system to the heart of European policymaking.

Read more

IHL Lab Geneva Academy News

The Geneva IHL Lab: Bridging Theory and Practice

21 May 2025

The Geneva Academy has launched a practice-oriented course designed to equip our Master of Advanced Studies students with skills in open-source research and legal analysis under international humanitarian law.

Read more

A general view of participants during of the 33nd ordinary session of the Human Rights Council. Training

The Universal Periodic Review and the UN Human Rights System: Raising the Bar on Accountability

10-14 November 2025

This training course will explore the origin and evolution of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and its functioning in Geneva and will focus on the nature of implementation of the UPR recommendations at the national level.

Read more

Online folders Project

Digital Human Rights Tracking Tools and Databases

Started in March 2023

This initiative wishes to contribute to better and more coordinated implementation, reporting and follow-up of international human rights recommendations through a global study on digital human rights tracking tools and databases.

Read more

First annual conference of the Geneva Human Rights Platform Project

The Annual Conference of the Geneva Human Rights Platform

Started in June 2019

Read more

Cover of the 2023 Geneva Academy Annual Report Publication

Annual Report 2024

published on July 2025

Read more