Between 24 February 2025 and 4 April 2025, the UNPO actively engaged with the United Nations Human Rights Council’s 58th Session on behalf of its members. Over the course of the Session, the UNPO attended numerous side events focused on human rights in Iran, China, Russia and the need to preserve democracy; celebrated the Kurdish New Year with the Association for Human Rights in Kurdistan-Geneva and the Administrative Council of the City of Geneva; stood in solidarity with the Sindh defending rivers and the right to water; and reconnected with a former UNPO founding member, Palau (previous Belau).

Side Event on Human Rights in China

The UNPO was grateful to attend a side event on Human Rights in China, chaired by the Society for Threatened Peoples. The panel featured representatives from Tibet, the Dalai Lama’s Envoy in Geneva, Dolkun Isa, former President of the World Uyghur Congress, a survivor of the reeducation camps in East Turkestan, and human rights activists fighting against the persecution of the Falun Gong practitioners in China. The event served as a stark reinforcement of the continued severe human rights violations against minorities in China, highlighting the necessity of continued civil society and State action to remedy this dire situation.