Human Rights Council

The United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) was established in 2006 by the UN General Assembly as the primary intergovernmental body responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights around the world. It succeeded the former Commission on Human Rights, with the aim of strengthening the UN's ability to respond to human rights violations and emerging global issues more effectively.

The first session of the HRC was held in Geneva, Switzerland, where the Council is permanently based. During its inaugural meeting, the Council adopted foundational mechanisms such as the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which allows for the assessment of the human rights records of all UN member states on a regular basis.

The HRC is composed of 47 member states, elected by the UN General Assembly for staggered three-year terms. Membership is based on equitable geographic distribution and includes countries from all regions of the world. The Council holds at least three regular sessions per year, and may convene special sessions in response to urgent human rights crises.

Over the years, the HRC has played a pivotal role in addressing issues such as freedom of expression, women’s rights, racial discrimination, LGBTQ+ rights, and the rights of migrants and refugees. It also undertakes country-specific investigations and authorizes independent experts and special rapporteurs to report on human rights conditions globally.

Today, the Human Rights Council serves as a forum for dialogue, accountability, and cooperation, working closely with other UN bodies, regional organizations, and civil society actors. Through its resolutions, reports, and investigative mechanisms, the HRC strives to uphold the dignity and rights of all individuals, fostering a more just and equitable international community.

The UN believes clean water and sanitation is a basic human right. Having access to this is indispensable to living an adequate human life. Thus, the UN states everyone having access to clean water is key to the road of sustainable development. As outlined in the 6th UN sustainable development goal (SDG), access to safe water for all purposes is a necessity for all human beings. 

As the population grows, the need for easy-access to clean water and sanitation facilities is rapidly increasing. Water is not just needed to sustain human life, but it is also key to eradicating poverty and stabilizing economies and ecosystems. Moreover, water availability is continuously becoming unpredictable with climate change, steadily increasing the need for countries to work together to form infrastructures and policies to make safe water accessible globally. 

Today, artificial intelligence has become a prominent part of today's society but has also increased the water intake. With the U.S. and China leading with advancing artificial intelligence, the conversation becomes how to continue advancing AI within planetary limitations. The UN calls that the data centres used to power AI tools will eventually equal the domestic water consumption of 1.3 billion people by 2030. Fueled by advancements in AI, U.S. data centres continue to grow consuming multiple resources key to human life. Building eco-conscious and responsible data centres becomes key to sustainable development. 

As of 2015, the Human Rights Council is recognizant of access to safe water being a basic human right. The UN continuously works towards making clean water and sanitation a universally accessible resource, whilst prioritizing countries that are disproportionately affected by the lack of sanitation. This closely correlates to the question of data centres and their direct consumption to resources needed for human life. 

1. How should international law directly address the growing issue of data centres and their rapid consumption use of scarce resources? 

2. How do data centres resource consumption disproportionately affect countries? What lasting effects do these data centres have on the country? 

3. What can governments do to ensure infrastructure aligns with planetary limitations? What kind of policies can they implement to protect the earth's resources and people?

1. Rising Emissions, Depleting Water and Vanishing Land—UN Scientists: AI Is Threatening Natural Resources for Billions | United Nations University 

2. About water and sanitation | OHCHR 

3. Data Drain: The Land and Water Impacts of the AI Boom - Lincoln Institute of Land Policy 

4. AI’s environmental costs threaten water, land and climate | UN News 

5. Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation - United Nations Sustainable Development 

6. OHCHR and the rights to water and sanitation 

7. Water | United Nations

As conflict continues to arise internationally, the question of the safety of healthcare professionals in conflict zones becomes a more pertaining conversation. Medical personnel can include individuals assigned to provide healthcare aid to people in areas of conflict, putting them directly in the line of fire. In 2023 alone, there have been over 1000 attacks on healthcare whether it includes healthcare facilities or its personnels. These attacks defy multiple humanitarian rights, depriving people in already fragile settings of healthcare aid they urgently need. 

Despite the advancements the UN has made to surveil attacks on healthcare, the number of incidents still continue to rise with more people losing lives. Areas of war-torn countries such as Ukraine, Palestine, and Democratic Republic of Congo face urgent humanitarian crises through the lack of adequate healthcare opportunities. With medical centres and hospitals being in constant line of fire, humanitarian aids and medical personnel experience increased stress and additional trauma from doing their job. 

Adequate medical aid and services are the backbone of rebuilding after conflict and the lack of it further collapses a country’s infrastructure. Safeguarding healthcare aids is significant in terms of peacebuilding and long-term recovery for a nation once the crisis has ended. Therefore, nations must come together to create a solution that protects medical centres and personnels in areas of conflict. 

1. How should accountability be addressed when healthcare aids and facilities are directly in line of fire? 

2. Should countries be able to put into practice “dual use” of medical centres, utilizing them for strategic purposes? Should countries respond to this, and why? 

3. How can governments work together to protect medical personnel in areas of conflict, and how can they better track these incidents? 

4. What protection and laws can governments put in place to prevent these atrocities from happening? 

• Safeguarding the right to health in crisis | OHCHR

• Stopping attacks on health care

• Health and aid workers targeted in conflicts around the world, UN agency says