August 2026
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‘Rigi-Retreat’ on the Future of the UN Treaty Body System, 3-5 June 2026
The Rigi Retreat brought together key stakeholders to explore practical pathways for strengthening and reforming the UN treaty body system.
Event Report
The treaty body system is facing the most significant challenge in its history. For more than fifty years, treaty bodies have played a central role in advancing implementation of international human rights obligations. Through constructive dialogue with States, engagement with rights holders and the progressive development of international human rights law, the treaty bodies have contributed to legislative reform, policy change, accountability and improved protection of human rights around the world.
Today, the system is experiencing an existential crisis. The ongoing UN liquidity crisis has further exposed a system already operating under significant strain: in 2025 alone, more than 40 State party dialogues were cancelled and approximately 185 individual communications were delayed. The lack of political and financial support, coupled with an internal reform backlog, risks undermining the system’s relevance and impact in the medium term. New action and renewed commitment are therefore necessary to maintain and revitalize this unique universal monitoring system, based on the legal obligations of States parties. Building on the constructive spirit of the series of previous international conferences and with multi-stakeholder participation in mind, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and the Geneva Human Rights Hub (GHRH) organized an expert meeting on Mount Rigi, Switzerland, from 3-5 June 2026, with the support of the European Union and the Kingdom of Belgium.
The ‘Rigi-Retreat’ aimed to give new impetus to the political discussions on the reform and future of the TB system. A wide range of reform options had already been discussed in the General Assembly process around the 2020 Review and the outcomes (A/75/601) as well as in proposals developed by treaty body Chairs and individual members, further elaborated by OHCHR, and external stakeholders. All proposals made to date to improve the functioning of the treaty body system are publicly available. These existing proposals provided the basis for a discussion focused on practical pathways forward.
40 participants, including chairpersons or members of each of the 10 UN treaty bodies, diplomats and governmental representatives from all world regions, experts from civil society, NHRIs and academia and OHCHR discussed systemic changes with the potential to contribute to the “overhaul” of the treaty body system called for by UN High Commissioner Türk at the end of 2025. Particular attention was given to three mutually reinforcing areas: enhanced digitalization; regionalization or decentralization of the reporting procedure; and predictable scheduling, clustering and follow-up. Discussions considered, among other options, a multilingual digital reporting and implementation platform, regional dialogues bringing treaty body engagement closer to States and rights holders, and a more predictable review cycle. These reforms could help reduce duplication and reporting burdens, while strengthening accessibility, participation, implementation and follow-up.
The meeting opened with a keynote by UN High Commissioner Volker Türk, followed by an interactive exchange moderated by Ambassador Franz Perez, director of the FDFA’s Directorate of International Law. Further sessions included plenary discussions and working groups, benefiting from a multi-stakeholder approach and providing a neutral and safe space for exchange, which participants stressed as a key positive feature of the retreat.
In keeping with the informal setting of the meeting, its outcomes are published in two separate papers: an outcome report by GHRH, which records the main reform proposals, areas of convergence and outstanding questions, and the Rigi Roadmap, a working document that seeks to reflect the most salient and widely shared principles, common aims and next steps for further deliberation.
The meeting was informed by three background papers, developed by the GHRH on digitalization, regionalization and scheduling.
The ‘Rigi-Retreat’ was conceived as one step in a wider process, and specific follow-up activities are already planned true to the motto that “what was discussed at Rigi should not stay on Rigi”. The FDFA envisages briefings for the diplomatic community in Geneva and New York, as the retreat format necessarily allowed for only limited participation. These briefings will feed into broader reform discussions within the system and help inform negotiations towards the next treaty body resolution in the General Assembly.
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Discussion Papers
Rigi Retreat Draft Discussion Paper III: Predictable Scheduling, Clustered Reviews and Sustained Follow-Up in the Treaty Body System Background
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Outcome Reports
Outcome Report: Rigi Retreat on the Future of the United Nations Human Rights Treaty Body System
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Treaty Body Strengthening
Fostering dialogue on reforms to strengthen the UN treaty body system and its future functioning.
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