15th June 2026
Where you’ll find Equality Now at the 62nd session of the Human Rights Council (HRC62)
9 min read
The 62nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC62), taking place in Geneva from 15 June to 7 July 2026, brings together governments, civil society organisations, and human rights advocates from around the world to address pressing human rights issues and advance meaningful change.
Equality Now, the Global Campaign for Equality in Family Law and the Hurra Coalition will be attending HRC62, highlighting the intersection of family law with gender equality, human rights and justice.
For those unable to attend in person, some of these sessions will be available to stream or join remotely online.
Date: 24 June
Time: 10 am – 12 pm
Venue: Assembly Hall, Palais des Nations, Geneva
Online link: Watch live at https://webtv.un.org
This panel will put be a spotlight and call for urgent action on domestic violence against women and girls, a grave form of gender-based violence and a pervasive violation of human rights and to discuss how the international human rights framework provides concrete guidance for prevention, protection, access to justice and accountability, as well as for survivor‑centred and coordinated responses at the national level. Hyshyama Hamin, Campaign Manager of the Global Campaign for Equality in Family Law, will be speaking at the panel on the unequal power imbalance caused by family laws, policies and social norms pertaining to families and good practices in tackling domestic violence through this lens.
Date: 25 June
Time: 12 – 1pm
Venue: Room VIII, Palais des Nations, Geneva
Online link: In person only
“Reclaiming “Family” for Gender Equality and Human Rights” will be hosted by the Global Campaign for Equality in Family Law, together with Act Church of Sweden, ACT Alliance, GIN-SOGIE and The Nordic Advocacy Consortium (NAC) for SRHR and Gender Equality. The side-event is sponsored by governments of Colombia and Sweden and the UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls.
The event aims to position families and family-related narratives as a strategic arena at the Human Rights Council for contesting anti-rights discourse, demonstrating how inequalities within family structures directly affect the rights, bodily autonomy, economic security, and decision-making power of women, girls, and LGBTIQ+ persons. It will provide states and international human rights actors with evidence and analysis showing how narrow invocations of “family values” obstruct progress on gender equality and SRHR and highlight the human rights costs of allowing such framings to remain unchallenged.
Date: 25 June
Time: 3-4pm
Venue: Room IX, Building A, Floor 3, Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland
Zoom link (registration required): https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pN-TFEBkTD2QE9KW1Lq2ow
The Hurra Coalition is an Arab regional coalition of 15 women’s rights organizations from nine Arab states. Over the past seven years, coalition members have worked closely to document and address the profound and intersecting harms caused by discriminatory personal status and family laws across the region. These laws govern key aspects of women’s and girls’ lives, including marriage, divorce, child custody, inheritance, guardianship, and women’s financial rights.
This side event takes place at a critical moment, as many Arab states continue to face protracted or emerging conflicts, economic crises, and increasing pressure to deprioritize gender equality commitments in the name of national stability. Through this discussion, the Hurra Coalition seeks to challenge this narrative and emphasize that family law reform is not a luxury reserved for times of peace, but rather a fundamental prerequisite for recovery, reconstruction, women’s economic justice, and sustainable development. Through the coalition’s collective advocacy work, we will showcase how strong movements can hold the line during times of regression and crisis.
Date: 26 June
Time: 1 – 2 PM
Venue: Room VII
Online link: In person only
Child, early and forced marriage remains a widespread human rights violation, affecting millions of girls globally. It constitutes a harmful practice and a form of gender-based violence, undermining rights to equality, health, education, and freedom from violence. Despite progress, elimination remains distant, and risks are heightened in humanitarian and crisis contexts.
OHCHR has developed Guidelines for the elimination of child, early and forced marriage, grounded in international human rights law and informed by consultations with States, civil society, survivors and young people. The guidelines provide practical, action-oriented recommendations to support effective prevention, protection and accountability. The event aims to discuss human rights-based strategies to eliminate child, early and forced marriage and launch the OHCHR Guidelines promoting their use by States and civil society. The event is jointly hosted by OHCHR, UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women, Equality Now, Girls Not Brides and Plan International.
Let us know you’re coming
If you are attending HRC62, we would welcome the opportunity to connect.
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