The Geneva Institute for Human Rights, in collaboration with Almarsd Society for Human Rights, organized a training course focused on the Human Rights Council, particularly its most significant innovation which is the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
The training session is scheduled to take place from the 26th of December to the 2nd of January 2021, in the presence of a diverse array of participants that come from Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, UAE, Oman and KSA.
Objectives of the training course:
Introduce Human Rights Council Mechanisms
Highlight the role of governments, non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions within the framework of the Human Rights Council procedures.
Illuminate on how to prepare documents related to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
Elucidate on how recommendations are made within the council, as well as how to follow up and implement recommendations at the local level.
To enhance the skills of participants in accessing information related to human rights issues, as well as preparing and presenting internal/public reports.
Iqbal Salman, head of the organizing committee, explained that the idea was to disseminate knowledge on human rights protection mechanisms and practical procedures within the framework of the Human Rights Council (HRC) by providing a theoretical explanation of the procedures which in turn will be linked to practice through the simulation of a Human Rights Council session.
Considering that the fourth session of the Universal Periodic Review is quickly approaching, Iqbal further added that the participants will implement a session under the sixth item of the council’s agenda where the HRC considers and formally adopts the reports resulting from the UPR of each state.
The training session will be presented by a number of international experts in the field of human rights such as Prof. Nazar Abdelgader (Executive Director of the Geneva Institute for Human Rights) , Dr. Kholoud Al-Khatib (Assistant Professor of Public International Law) and Professor Kamal Al-Mashriqi (an international expert and speaker in the field of human rights).
By introducing participants to the Council’s procedures and elucidating on the role of governments, NGOs and national human rights institutions within the framework of the Council’s procedures, the session positively contributes to building the capacities of human rights workers as it encourages the active participation in and interaction with international mechanisms and procedures.