Digital tools play an increasingly important role in supporting the work of UN human rights mechanisms, including treaty bodies, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), Special Procedures and commissions of inquiry. By making findings and recommendations more accessible, facilitating analysis and reporting, and strengthening national implementation and follow-up, these tools can help bridge the gap between international human rights standards and their practical application. However, the digital ecosystem remains fragmented, with tools using different taxonomies, data structures and technical architectures, often limiting interoperability and the reuse of trusted information.
The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) creates new opportunities to address these challenges. AI-assisted extraction, classification, multilingual search, summarisation and reporting can improve efficiency and enable new ways of analysing human rights information. Yet, in a field where information may concern vulnerable individuals, human rights defenders and sensitive evidence, technological innovation must be accompanied by robust safeguards. Questions of accuracy, bias, traceability, confidentiality, security and contextual relevance are central to ensuring that AI supports, rather than undermines, human rights monitoring and accountability. The challenge is to identify where AI delivers reliable value, under what conditions, and how human rights principles can be translated into practical safeguards throughout the AI lifecycle.
Against this background, the roundtable will bring together developers and users of digital human rights tools and databases, alongside representatives of Member States, international organisations, civil society, national human rights institutions and academia. Building on existing experience and an established community of practice, participants will exchange lessons on current and emerging AI applications, examine common technical, institutional and ethical challenges, and identify opportunities for greater interoperability and cooperation. The discussion will seek to distinguish useful plurality from avoidable duplication, identify practical areas for shared approaches and solutions, and formulate concrete recommendations to inform the RightsX Summit 2026 and the Road to Geneva discussions ahead of the Geneva AI Summit 2027.