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10th International Training Session on the UPR

Wed, 06/10/2015 - 13:09 — CIFEDHOP

 10th International Training Session on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR)
of the UN Human Rights Council,
for members of civil society and educational organizations

Geneva, October 27th - November 2nd, 2015

"Towards a culture of human rights: the role of the UPR"

This training is open to members of civil society and educational organizations. It will provide knowledge on how to use the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) as a leverage for human rights awareness raising, education and public debates as well.

Why the UPR?

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is widely recognized as one of the Human Rights Council’s great innovations. This regular review of the human rights situation in each State by the other States is more than just an intergovernmental procedure. This review mechanism is the one which attracts the highest attention from the media and the public opinion of a country. Thus, beyond the formal procedure, the UPR offers an opportunity for public debate, social mobilization, human rights awareness raising and education which may help reinforce a culture of fundamental rights in all countries.

This is why civil society, including educational organizations, is brought to develop a range of complementary activities to the procedure itself, in order to publicize, promote and, ultimately, protect human rights.

In this regard, the first and second UPR cycles have provided examples of various forms of activities, including information sharing, awareness raising and public mobilization, especially by national UPR NGO coalitions.

This training aims to:

  • develop UPR participation strategies;
  • discuss methods of prioritization for civil society and educators;
  • contextualize human rights education and training in the framework of the UPR;
  • exchange and compare institutional and field experiences;
  • analyze the statements that Member States and Observing States of the Human Rights Council will make at the end of their review and to monitor their engagements;
  • analyze the recommendations for actions to be taken in the countries;
  • monitor the UPR in the field and reflect its impact in the interactive platform that CIFEDHOP has developed for this purpose.

The training session is divided into 5 modules:

  1. pre-session in-depth knowledge of the UPR mechanism;
  2. promotion and protection of human rights: achievements and challenges of the UPR;
  3. UPR as an evidence based and a collective human rights assessment;
  4. UPR, a lever for awareness raising, public debates and for a culture of human rights;
  5. UPR, an educational opportunity for human rights;
  6. participation at the UPR session;
  7. actions and strategies around the UPR.

The session takes place in 2 languages and hosts about 25 people from all continents.

Program