11 out of 15 resolutions on the human rights to water and sanitation were adopted by consensus. This means that no member state of the UN General Assembly or Human Rights Council objected to the text. When a resolution is adopted by consensus, co-sponsoring is the only way a country can explicitly support it.
4 out of the 15 resolutions weere adopted by a vote. In these cases, a member state of the UN General Assembly or Human Rights Council demanded a change to the text that did not reach consensus and put this to a vote. None of these votes achieved a change to the text of the respective resolution. Countries can also co-sponsor resolutions that were voted on.
GA stands for General Assembly. The UN General Assembly is the main policy making organ of the UN. All 193 UN Member States have a seat in the GA and each country has equal voting rights. The General Assembly functions a bit like a national parliament.
When the General Assembly adopts a resolution by consensus, it means that no UN Member State objects to it. Resolutions adopted by the GA begin with GA, followed by the session in which they were adopted and the number of the resolution. For example, GA 76/153 was adopted by the GA during its 76th session and it has the number 153 of all resolutions adopted during that session.
HRC stands for Human Rights Council. In the UN system, the HRC is responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights worldwide. 47 UN Member States sit in the HRC. They are elected by the UN General Assembly for three years.
Most advancements in the normative development of the human rights to water and sanitation are made in the Human Rights Council as the expert body of the UN. All UN Member States can co-sponsor resolutions adopted by the Human Rights Council, but only the 47 Council members can demand a vote.
Resolutions reflect the support and commitment of countries for the human rights to water and sanitation at the international level. If your country has co-sponsored or voted yes on a resolution on the human rights to water and sanitation, you could:
Note that at the UN level, countries are ‘one entity’. You can therefore refer to resolutions in advocacy with any government institution.
A UN resolution is a formal text adopted by a UN body that consists of UN Member States. This means that all resolutions are drafted and adopted by countries.
While resolutions are not legally binding, they are an important expression of countries’ positions and commitments.
Every year, countries negotiate a resolution on the human rights to water and sanitation at the UN Human Rights Council or General Assembly.
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