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Meeting of the UPR Platform members with the OHCHR
 The International Catholic
Center of Geneva (CCIG)
organized a meeting between
the UPR Platform members
and representatives of the
OHCHR.
The meeting took
place on Wednesday, December
12th, 2012 and was
attended by representatives
of 13 NGO members of the
UPR Platform.
The meeting
was led by Mr. Christophe
Peschoux, Chief UPR team/Field
Operations and Technical
Cooperation Division (FOTCD)
OHCHR, and a group of Human
Rights Officers: Ms. Marlene
Alejos, Mr. Juan Pablo Vegas,
and Ms. Speideh Mohadjer.
Given the new challenges
raised by the 2nd UPR cycle,
the goal of this meeting
was to provide the members
of CCIG UPR Platform with
key information to improve
their contribution within
the UPR as well as to share
with the OHCHR difficulties
encountered by NGOs while
working with this specific
mechanism.
The meeting was structured
around a list of questions
prepared by the members
of the UPR Platform.
The
main issues of the discussion
were: criteria for preparation
of the OHCHR Summary  Report
of stakeholders’ submissions,
the differences between
the working group report
and the outcome report,
trends in States’ performance
during review sessions,
how to ensure the effective
monitoring of UPR recommendations
on the ground, and how stakeholders
can best prepare UPR submissions.
Moreover, the platform members
discussed some of their
concerns about the UPR process
and the challenges that
they face.
The OHCHR representatives
responded to these concerns
and introduced strategies
to deal with the difficulties
of the process. They also
emphasized the importance
of the role of civil society
members in the UPR process
and encouraged their continuous
involvement.
International Catholic Center of Geneva (CCIG) and UNESCO ETXEA
Training on United Nations
Human Rights Mechanisms
The International Catholic
Center of Geneva (CCIG)
hosted a one week training
session on United Nations
Human Rights Mechanisms,
in cooperation with UNESCO
ETXEA. The training took
place from the 24th to the
28th of September 2012 and
was attended by representatives
of NGOs from the Basque
country. This training was
the second in a series of
training sessions starting
in June 2011.
 Participants were introduced
to key UN Human Rights Mechanisms
through a combination of
theoretical and practical
approaches; they attended
talks by keynote speakers,
discussed with them effective
functioning of Human Rights
Mechanisms, and attended
several meetings of the
Human Rights Council. The
informal exchange sessions,
held at CCIG, were led by
U.N. independent experts
such as Mr. Alfred de Zayas,
Independent Expert on the
promotion of a democratic
and equitable international
order, officers of the Commission
of Human Rights such as
Ms. Stefania Tripodi, and
other notable keynote speakers
such as Mr. David Azoulay,
Managing Attorney of the
Center for International
Environmental Law (CIEL),
Mr. Roland Chauville, co-founder
and director of the NGO
UPR-Info, Mr. Jean Benoit
Charrin, director of the
WaterLex Geneva office and
President of the CCIG, Mr.
David Fernandez Puyana,
director of the World Campaign
on the Human Right to Peace,
and Ms. Johanne Bouchard,
researcher at the University
of Fribourg and member of
the Observatory of Diversity
and Cultural Rights.
These interactive
sessions allowed for open
communication and engaging
discussions as participants
were encouraged to ask questions
and steer the conversation
towards subjects that interests
them most, such as human
rights and the environment,
cultural rights, and the
right to water and sanitation.
Since improving the effectiveness
of NGOs' work is one of
CCIG's main objectives,
the center regularly organizes
training sessions related
to the work of the United
Nations, focusing on the
role of civil society organizations
in promoting and protecting
human rights.
If you would like to
participate in future training
sessions or are interested
in learning more about them,
please contact ccig@bluewin.ch
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