WAVE participated in the 61st session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva from 9 to 12 March, continuing its advocacy to elevate women’s rights across Europe and beyond. In partnership with The Advocates for Human Rights, WAVE engaged with Council members to raise awareness of key challenges affecting women in Estonia, Latvia, Hungary, and Moldova. This work took place alongside Moldova’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR), where frontline expertise from WAVE members directly informed international discussions.
During the session, Anisoara Tun of the Women’s Law Centre contributed to the NGO briefing on Moldova, highlighting the challenges women face in accessing justice and calling for stronger protections. In parallel, WAVE’s Senior Advocacy Advisor Eliana Jimeno met with Human Rights Council representatives ahead of upcoming UPR reviews for Latvia, Estonia, and Hungary. These discussions focused on strengthening legislation and service provision, ensuring anti-discrimination measures for Roma women and girls, and preventing any rollback of commitments under the Istanbul Convention.
Beyond country-specific advocacy, WAVE also engaged with a representative of the EU External Action Service to discuss the EU’s role in supporting women’s human rights in accession countries, including the importance of sustained funding and support for women’s civil society organisations. A separate networking meeting with gender equality CSOs and UN agencies provided space to explore collaboration across shared priorities within the UN Geneva agenda.
These efforts resulted in concrete commitments from Human Rights Council members to take forward WAVE’s recommendations, including strengthening legal frameworks, improving service provision, and ensuring protections for marginalised groups such as Roma women and girls. Following the visit, WAVE joined a collaborative space with Geneva-based organisations to continue tracking women’s rights developments across the UN system and to maintain engagement in key processes.
WAVE’s participation in the Human Rights Council reflects a long-standing commitment to bringing the voices and expertise of its member organisations into international decision-making spaces. Advocacy ahead of UPR sessions is a strategic intervention point, shaping the questions posed to governments, the benchmarks set, and the commitments expected. Beyond individual meetings, this work contributes to building an international coalition of actors committed to defending gender equality, strengthening accountability, and ensuring that the realities faced by women and girls across Europe remain visible and acted upon.
