UPR Latin America Coalition
Currently, several countries around the world have UPR national coalitions formed by civil society to coordinate their engagement with the mechanism. However, an innovative experience has been taking shape in Latin America, where civil society organizations and UPR national coalitions have mobilized to build and strengthen a Regional UPR Coalition, aimed at exchanging knowledge, promoting coordination, and conducting joint advocacy in international human rights processes.
Below, we briefly present the pioneering experience of this regional coalition, which has been opening new paths for the integration and strengthening of civil society participation in the UPR.
The UPR Latin America Coalition is a regional coalition whose purpose is to exchange good advocacy practices within the framework of the United Nations UPR and to strengthen the work of national coalitions dedicated to monitoring and implementing UPR recommendations in their respective countries.
The Coalition was created in November 2021, at the end of the 3rd UPR cycle (2017–2022), under the coordination of the Institute for Development and Human Rights (IDDH).
The group meets annually and was initially composed of civil society organizations from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. It also includes consolidated UPR national coalitions such as the UPR Brazil Coalition, the Colectivo EPU Perú, and civil society coalitions from Bolivia (led by Comunidad de Derechos Humanos) and Uruguay (led by ANONG).
Since its creation, the Coalition has carried out advocacy actions in spaces such as the UN Human Rights Council — including oral statements under Item 6, dedicated to the UPR — and, more recently, also before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), with the request for and participation in a thematic hearing during its 191st period of sessions.
In addition to its UPR focus, the group also works to strengthen National Mechanisms for Implementation, Reporting and Follow-up (NMIRFs) — known in the region by names such as SIMORE or MNIDI — recognizing the potential of these tools to ensure greater accountability and transparency in the implementation of international recommendations by States.
In October 2025, during an in-person meeting held in Santiago with the support of the OHCHR Regional Office in Chile, the group welcomed the participation of organizations and UPR national coalitions from countries such as Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, and Panama. This regional exchange motivated the decision to expand the group — previously known as the UPR South America Coalition — to the UPR Latin America Coalition.
This expansion reflects a shared conviction: civil society must continue strengthening its collective efforts to monitor, follow up, and hold States accountable for fulfilling and implementing their human rights obligations — whether through national, regional, or international strategies!
