GENEVA - The human rights record of Belgium will be examined by the United Nations Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group for the fourth time on Wednesday, 6 May 2026, 14:30-18:00 (GMT+2), in a meeting in Geneva that will be webcast live.
Belgium is one of 14 States scheduled to be reviewed by the UPR Working Group during its upcoming session from 4 to 15 May 2026. The first, second and third UPR reviews of Belgium took place in May 2011, January 2016 and May 2021, respectively.
The UPR Working Group is comprised of the 47 Member States of the Human Rights Council. However, any UN Member or Observer State can participate in a country review.
The documents on which the reviews are based are: 1) national report - information provided by the State under review; 2) information contained in the reports of independent human rights experts and groups, known as the special procedures, human rights treaty bodies, and other UN entities; 3) information provided by other stakeholders including national human rights institutions, regional organizations, and civil society groups.
The three reports serving as the basis for the review of Belgium can be found here.
Location: Assembly Hall (A Building, third floor), Palais des Nations, Geneva.
Date and time: Wednesday, 6 May 2026, 14:30-18:00 (GMT+2)
The UPR is a peer review of the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States. Since its first meeting was held in April 2008, all 193 UN Member States have been reviewed three times. During the fourth UPR cycle, States are again expected to spell out steps they have taken to implement recommendations posed during their previous reviews which they committed to follow up on and highlight recent human rights developments in the country.
The delegation of Belgium will be led by Mr. Maxime Prévot, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Development Cooperation.
The three country representatives serving as rapporteurs ("troika") for the review of Belgium are Estonia, Ethiopia and Iraq.
The webcast of the session will be at: https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1k/k1kxyvpx5j
The list of speakers and all available statements to be delivered during the review of Belgium will be posted on the UPR Extranet.
The UPR Working Group is scheduled to adopt the recommendations made to Belgium on Friday, 15 May 2026, between 14:30 and 18:00 (GMT+2). The State under review may wish to express its positions on recommendations posed to it during its review.
