INTERNATIONAL POLICY ANALYSIS Democratic Emerging Powers and the International Human Rights System ROB JENKINS AND EMMA MAWDSLEY August 2013 „ „ Democratic Emerging Powers(DEPs) face complex challenges in addressing human rights issues in multilateral institutions, such as managing domestic political pres­sures; maintaining support among developing countries suspicious of new concep­tions of state sovereignty; and ensuring that their national interests are shielded from potentially intrusive monitoring regimes. „ „ The UN Human Rights Council, although designed to promote member-state com­pliance with their international obligations, has proven a difficult context for DEP action in support of efforts to sanction systemic human rights violations. However, individual DEPs have used the HRC as a forum for advancing issues of particular sig­nificance. „ „ While the UN Security Council might seem the most challenging context for DEP en­gagement on human rights, because the Council is not seen as a»natural« arena for addressing such concerns, the desire of some DEPs to position themselves as future permanent members of a reformed Council has led their diplomats to approach hu­man rights in a more constructive way than many might have predicted. „ „ As the role of DEPs as development assistance providers evolves, including through the forms of engagement that fall under the wider rubric of»South-South Develop­ment Cooperation«, their governments will face increasing pressures – from both domestic and international constituencies – to address human rights issues in the countries in which they provide assistance.