By Ayman Okeil
Parliaments play a decisive and highly significant role, one that some may understand and others may overlook, either intentionally or due to insufficient knowledge of how to engage with international human-rights mechanisms. In particular, I would like to highlight the role of parliaments in implementing Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendations. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), more than 50% of UPR recommendations either require or include parliamentary action.
At the national level, I recall Dr. Moufid Shehab, may his soul rest in peace, who led the first Egyptian delegation to travel to Geneva to be reviewed under the UPR mechanism. At that time, he served as Minister of Legal Affairs and the Shura/Consultative Council, an eminent legal figure with extensive knowledge and one of the recognized scholars of international law. He gained invaluable experience during his membership in the Shura Council (the Senate currently). He was also right to anticipate the importance of the UPR mechanism and the roles parliaments would play in it, even when the mechanism was still in its early stages.
The UN Human Rights Council, where Egypt has held membership for the period from 2026 to 2028, has adopted several resolutions emphasizing the important role of parliaments in translating international commitments into national policies and laws. This includes Resolution No. 29/35, entitled “Contribution of Parliaments to the Work of the Human Rights Council and Its UPR,” which drew attention to the vital role of parliaments in supporting implementation of recommendations, particularly those accepted by the State under the UPR, which then become linked to the State’s corresponding undertakings.
Egypt accepted 265 recommendations in full and 16 partially. There is no doubt that this reflects the Government of Egypt’s seriousness in addressing issues related to human rights and advancing them. This, in turn, requires greater cooperation among all stakeholders to achieve implementation within the set timeline: completing part of the work before mid-term and implementing the full set of accepted recommendations before Egypt’s fifth review. The High Commissioner for Human Rights has encouraged governments to cooperate with all stakeholders, including the parliament, the judiciary, the National Council for Human Rights, and civil society organizations.
This aligns with what the Secretary-General’s report on strengthening United Nations human-rights activities concluded, describing parliaments as legislative and oversight bodies, that is, institutions that enact laws and oversee their implementation. In my view, this stems from the role parliaments play in entrenching the rule of law and respecting and protecting human rights at the national level, especially by following up on and ensuring the implementation of UPR recommendations. Thanks to this increasingly important role of parliaments, the United Nations has been working on draft international principles on parliaments and human rights, clearly recognizing the leading role of parliaments in supporting and supervising the implementation of recommendations submitted through the UPR mechanism, as well as through other international and regional human-rights mechanisms. Therefore, I say, speaking on behalf of a well-wishing voice, to the members of parliament across the world in general, and in Egypt in particular: your roles are important, and your effectiveness is essential and cannot be dispensed with in implementing UPR recommendations.
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