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On 1-12 May, Lithuania actively participated in the 43rd Session of the Universal Periodic Review Working Group (UPR). During the session, Lithuania provided recommendations to 11 states under review. Namely to France, Tonga, Romania, Burundi, the Bahamas, Luxembourg, Barbados, Montenegro, the United Arab Emirates, Liechtenstein, and Serbia.

Lithuania’s recommendations were focused on the safety of journalists, the protection of human rights defenders, gender equality, the promotion and protection of rights of women and girls, persons with disabilities and rights of the child. Lithuania has also encouraged states to consider the ratification of international conventions and their optional protocols, the adoption of national legal acts, plans of action in different human rights areas, and provided other recommendations, according to the human rights situation in states under-review. All the recommendations were based on the states’ under-review National Reports, compilations of UN information, and summaries of stakeholders’ information, as well as Lithuania’s membership priorities at the UN Human Rights Council.

During the session, all the states reviewed during the 43rd UPR session received an average of more than 200 recommendations from ca. 80-120 countries. They will have time until the 54th session of the UN Human Rights Council to examine all the received recommendations and decide on which ones to accept and implement, as the final UPR reports of the reviewed states will be adopted during the 54^th Human Rights Council session.

As a member of the UN Human Rights Council, Lithuania together with China and Malawi participated in the work of the “Troika” for Luxembourg’s UPR, prepared the recommendation report and participated in its adoption. Luxembourg received 254 recommendations from 92 states.

UPR is considered to be one of the most successful UN Human Rights Council mechanisms, which ensures the review of all the UN member states without exception. Since 2008, UPR aims to evaluate the human rights situation in every state, as the state under review presents the actions it has taken to improve the human rights situation and to fulfil its human rights obligations. At the same time, other states may share their observations on the human rights situation and provide recommendations for the state under review. Lithuania had its UPR in 2011, 2017 and 2022. 4th cycle of Lithuania‘s UPR is expected to occur in 2027.