RES/38/17 The Social Forum

GE.18-11910(E)



Human Rights Council Thirty-eighth session

18 June–6 July 2018

Agenda item 5

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 6 July 2018

38/17. The Social Forum

The Human Rights Council,

Recalling all previous resolutions and decisions adopted on the Social Forum by the

Commission on Human Rights and its Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of

Human Rights, the Economic and Social Council and the Human Rights Council,

Recalling also Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 of 18 June 2007,

Reaffirming the unique nature within the United Nations of the Social Forum, which

makes possible a dialogue and an exchange between the representatives of Member States

and civil society, including grass-roots organizations and intergovernmental organizations,

and stressing that the current reform of the United Nations should take into account the

contribution of the Forum as a vital space for open and fruitful dialogue on issues linked

with the national and international environment needed for the promotion of the enjoyment

of all human rights by all,

1. Reaffirms the Social Forum as a unique space for interactive dialogue

between the United Nations human rights machinery and various stakeholders, including

the contribution of civil society and grass-roots organizations, and stresses the need to

ensure greater participation of grass-roots organizations and of those living in poverty,

particularly women, especially from developing countries, in the sessions of the Forum;

2. Underlines the importance of coordinated efforts at the national, regional and

international levels for the promotion of social cohesion based on the principles of social

justice, equity and solidarity and of addressing the social dimension and challenges of the

ongoing globalization process and the negative impact of the current economic and

financial crises;

3. Stresses the need for the increased and sustained participation and

contribution of civil society and all other relevant actors listed in the present resolution to

the promotion and effective realization of the right to development;

4. Decides that the Social Forum will meet for two working days in 2019, in

Geneva, on dates suitable for the participation of representatives of States Members of the

United Nations and of the broadest possible range of other stakeholders, especially from

developing countries, and also decides that, at its next meeting, the Forum should focus on

the promotion and protection of the rights of children and youth through education;

United Nations A/HRC/RES/38/17

5. Requests the President of the Human Rights Council to appoint, as early as

possible, from candidates nominated by regional groups, the Chair-Rapporteur for the 2019

Social Forum, bearing in mind the principle of regional rotation;

6. Requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human

Rights to make available the most recent and relevant United Nations reports and

documents on the promotion and protection of the rights of children and youth through

education as background documents for the dialogues and debates that will be held at the

2019 Social Forum;

7. Requests the High Commissioner to facilitate participation in the 2019 Social

Forum, in order to contribute to the interactive dialogues and debates held at the Forum and

to assist the Chair-Rapporteur as resource persons, of no fewer than 10 experts, including

representatives of civil society and grass-roots organizations in developing countries, the

Special Rapporteur on the right to education and the Chair of the Committee on the Rights

of the Child;

8. Decides that the Social Forum will remain open to the participation of

representatives of States Members of the United Nations and all other interested

stakeholders, such as intergovernmental organizations, different components of the United

Nations system, especially mandate holders of thematic procedures and mechanisms of the

human rights machinery, regional economic commissions and specialized agencies and

organizations, and representatives designated by national human rights institutions and non-

governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council,

and will also be open to other non-governmental organizations whose aims and purposes

are in conformity with the spirit, purposes and principles of the Charter of the United

Nations, including newly emerging actors, such as small groups and rural and urban

associations from the North and the South, anti-poverty groups, peasants’ and farmers’ organizations and their national and international associations, voluntary organizations,

environmental organizations and activists, youth associations, community organizations,

trade unions and associations of workers, and representatives of the private sector, on the

basis of arrangements, including Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/31 of 25

July 1996 and practices observed by the Commission on Human Rights, through an open

and transparent accreditation procedure, in accordance with the rules of procedure of the

Human Rights Council, while ensuring the most effective contribution of these entities;

9. Requests the Office of the High Commissioner to seek effective means of

ensuring consultation and the broadest possible participation of representatives from every

region, in particular, representatives of persons with disabilities, especially those from

developing countries, in the Social Forum, including by establishing partnerships with non-

governmental organizations, the private sector and international organizations;

10. Requests the Secretary-General to take appropriate measures to disseminate

information about the Social Forum, to invite relevant individuals and organizations to the

Forum, and to take all practical measures required for the success of this initiative;

11. Invites the 2019 Social Forum to submit a report containing its conclusions

and recommendations to the Human Rights Council at its forty-first session;

12. Requests the Secretary-General to provide the Social Forum with all the

services and facilities necessary to fulfil its activities, and requests the High Commissioner

to provide all the support necessary to facilitate the convening and proceedings of the

Forum;

13. Encourages all Member States to participate in the discussions of the Social

Forum so that worldwide representation in the debates can be ensured;

14. Decides to continue consideration of this issue at its forty-first session under

the same agenda item.

39th meeting

6 July 2018

[Adopted without a vote.]