Africa and the Global Human Rights Agenda: The African Group at the UN Human Rights Council

The document analyzes the African Group's engagement at the UN Human Rights Council, noting a tension between a desire for regional leadership and a tendency to grant accused governments veto power over resolutions. While some 'human rights-friendly' states consistently support country-specific resolutions, others systematically abstain or oppose them, leading to an uneven response to crises across the continent and globally.

• The African Group operates under three primary principles: resolutions should have the consent of the country concerned, leadership on African situations should remain within the African Group, and the focus should be on providing technical assistance rather than monitoring or investigation.
• The African Group's insistence on government consent has led to inconsistent responses to crises; while the HRC took strong action in Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, and the Central African Republic, it has been described as 'impotent' regarding Sudan and failed to respond quickly to the situation in South Sudan.
• Eritrea represents a unique exception to the African Group's norms, as a small group of African states (Somalia, Djibouti, and Nigeria) successfully pushed for a special rapporteur and commission of inquiry despite the Eritrean government's strong objections.
• Voting patterns reveal a lack of uniformity within the African Group: Botswana and Mauritius consistently support country-specific resolutions, while others like South Africa, Namibia, and Ethiopia systematically abstain from them.
• There is a regional divide in voting behavior, with West African states generally being more supportive of country-specific engagement and East African states showing greater resistance.
• Almost all African Group members uniformly support resolutions concerning Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).

APA

Dam, P. (2014). Africa and the Global Human Rights Agenda: The African Group at the UN Human Rights Council. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Policy-Briefing-108.pdf

Chicago

Dam, Philippe. Africa and the Global Human Rights Agenda: The African Group at the UN Human Rights Council. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2014. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Policy-Briefing-108.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Dam |first1=Philippe |title=Africa and the Global Human Rights Agenda: The African Group at the UN Human Rights Council |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=October 2014 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Policy-Briefing-108.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{dam2014africa, author = {Dam, Philippe}, title = {{Africa and the Global Human Rights Agenda: The African Group at the UN Human Rights Council}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2014}, month = oct, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Policy-Briefing-108.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }