The first session of the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review has just ended. No less than sixteen countries came under the scrutiny of their peers. How did the process go? What went well? What must be improved? What are the opportunities and challenges for civil society at national level? (28-APR-08)

Based on HURIDOCS newsletter, this article has been edited and prepared for publication here by HRH F / Niels Jacob Harbitz. The text of HURIDOCS´s newsletter has been left unchanged.

To answer these questions, we interviewed two Geneva-based activists, Budi
Tjahjono and Yves Lador. You will find their responses frank and outspoken. Budi and Yves help us map out the path towards a more effective lobbying of the Universal Periodic Review process.

Perhaps the most useful point they underline is the crucial importance of preparing and at national level, and following up afterwards on monitoring of commitments taken by your government. And also how vital it is to generate concrete, realistic and actionable recommendations, which can then be easily put forward by the diplomats at the Human Rights Council.

Watch the video here:
http://www.huridocs.org/involved/conference/interview

Two related points:

1. HURIDOCS CONFERENCE

HURIDOCS is organising a conference, to be held in March 2009 in Geneva, entitled:

“Human Rights Council and International Criminal Court: The New Challenges for Human Rights Communications”

The Conference will bring together representatives of human rights organisations concerned with the collection, management and communication of information on human rights.

The dates will coincide with the start of the March session of the Universal Periodic Review (exact date of latter still to be set). This will allow participants to attend both events on the same ticket.

You can already pre-register by sending an email today to conference@huridocs.org

More information here: http://www.huridocs.org/involved/conference

2. HRGOWEB WEBSITE
As some of you know, a group of Geneva-based NGOs have put together an online dashboard which provides convenient access to all the information about the Universal Periodic Review: calendar, country reports and even a direct entrance to the extranet: http://www.hrgoweb.org/council/

Another new resource on the UPR has also recently been set up:
http://www.upr-info.org/

If you enjoyed this newsletter and found it useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues who share your interest in human rights. You are welcome to post it to your blog, or disseminate it in any way you like.

If you received this newsletter from a friend, and wish to subscribe, visit the web-page below: http://www.humanrightstools.org/newsletter.htm

We have several exciting issues coming up: using information design techniques to make your data talk, lobbying tips from seasoned advocates, working with indicators to monitor human rights. So make sure you sign up now, if you don´t want to miss them!

Best regards, and good luck in your efforts to defend or raise awareness about human rights.

Daniel D´Esposito, Editor
Human Rights Tools
editors@humanrightstools.org
http://www.humanrightstools.org