Pre-sessions

UPR Info is organising a series of meetings on a regular basis in Geneva, Switzerland, entitled UPR Pre-sessions aiming at strengthening collaboration between different actors engaged with the UPR process.

Upcoming Pre-sessions

From 2 to 4 September 2103 on countries coming up for review at the 17th UPR Working Group session: Belize, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Jordan, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Saudi Arabia, and Senegal. For more information click here.

The UPR Pre-sessions bring together Permanent Missions, National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to discuss the human rights situation of States two months prior to their review at the UPR Working Group. The Pre-sessions offer permanent delegations the opportunity to be informed on the status of implementation of recommendations made during the previous review, while providing space for civil society to influence the process by lobbying several delegations at once.

“The Pre-session assisted us in advising our government where to tighten screws in the areas of human rights where we are still lagging behind, not only in preparation for the UPR, but also for the benefit of our people.” Mr. Charles Masole, Permanent Mission of Botswana

The UPR Pre-session for each State under Review (SuR) lasts one hour. The National Human Rights Institutions and Civil Society Organizations are given the floor between 5 to 10 minutes each to share their assessment of the human rights situation in the country since the previous review and the progress accomplished by the SuR in implementing the recommendations (Concept Note).

All Permanent Missions, including the State under Review, are invited to attend.

Four rounds of Pre-sessions have been held so far, notably in April 2012 for session 13, in August 2012 for session 14, in November 2012 for session 15, and in March 2013 for session 16. A total of 75 Permanent Missions followed over 300 presentations - mostly by national NGOs - on 47 countries.

The UPR Pre-sessions are currently organised thanks to the support of Irish Aid, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, the Canton of Geneva and the City of Geneva.

Listen to what Mrs. Maryam Al-Khawaja, Acting Director of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, says about our pre-sessions: