Universal Periodic Review The Universal Periodic Review "has
great potential to promote and protect human rights in the
darkest corners of the world.” – Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-
General The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique process
which involves a review of the human rights records of all UN
Member States. The UPR is a State-driven process, under the
auspices of the Human Rights Council, which provides the
opportunity for each State to declare what actions they have
taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries
and to fulfil their human rights obligations. As one of the main
features of the Council, the UPR is designed to ensure equal
treatment for every country when their human rights situations
are assessed. The UPR was created through the UN General
Assembly on 15 March 2006 by resolution 60/251, which
established the Human Rights Council itself. It is a cooperative
process which, by October 2011, has reviewed the human rights
records of all 193 UN Member States. Currently, no