International cooperation, including with human rights mechanisms – Government action

UK Government actions

• In November 2020, in response to financial pressures created by the coronavirus pandemic, the UK Government announced a temporary reduction in overseas development assistance from 0.7% of gross national income to 0.5% in 2021‒22.
• In October 2020, the UK Government was re-elected to the UN Human Rights Council for 2021‒23.
• In September 2020, the UK Government reiterated its support for the work of the UN working group on ageing, which is considering the existing international framework on the human rights of older people to identify protection gaps.
• In September 2020, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) was merged with the Department for International Development.
• In August 2020, the UK Government submitted a follow-up report to the UN Committee against Torture on the implementation of recommendations received in 2019.
• In July 2020, the FCO published its Human Rights and Democracy Report 2019 outlining activity taken to defend human rights internationally.
• In June 2020, the UK Government published its first Voluntary National Review of efforts to implement the UN Sustainable Development Goals adopted in 2015.
• In May 2020, the UK Government published an update on implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
• In April 2020, the UK Government missed the deadline for reporting to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Its state report remains outstanding in May 2021.
• In September 2019, the UK Government submitted a follow-up report to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on the implementation of recommendations received in 2017.
• In September 2019, it was announced that the UK would host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in November 2021.
• In June 2019, the UK Government became the co-chair of the intergovernmental Equal Rights Coalition which seeks to protect the rights of LGBT and intersex people.
• In May 2019, the UK Government appointed an International Ambassador for Human Rights.
• In December 2018, the UK Government endorsed the UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration which recognises that migrants’ human rights must be respected, protected and fulfilled.
• In November 2018, the UK Government submitted its state report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, following its initial 2017 report.
• In November 2018, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights visited the UK following a Government invitation.
• Between 2018 and 2021, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office funded the Equality and Human Rights Commission in its role as Chair of the Commonwealth Forum of National Human Rights Institutions.
• In July 2018, the UK Government submitted an update report to the UN under the Universal Periodic Review, and a mid-term report in 2021, following its state report submitted in February 2017.
• On 26 June 2018, the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2018 gained Royal Assent. The UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020, entering a transition period which ended on 31 December 2020.
• Between April and May 2018, the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance visited the UK following an invitation from the Government.
• In January 2017, the UN Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes visited the UK following an invitation from the Government.

Read our assessment of the UK Government’s progress on international cooperation, including with human rights mechanisms.