21/10/2011

Outcomes of our celebration of the UPR 1st cycle

On Thursday 13th October, UPR Info organized an event to celebrate the end of the first cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in the Human Rights Council's room of the Palais des Nations. This celebration, co-sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Switzerland, the Kingdom of Morocco and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, aimed at highlighting the achievements on human rights obtained during the first cycle, as well as the challenges and opportunities the second cycle would present.

Please find below the main ideas for the second cycle shared during this celebration:

States under Review

- Launch a website which will include a timeline of actions in the run-up to the Review and contain the national report;
- Consider Parliament engagement with the UPR process;
- Give clear response to recommendations (accepted/rejected);
- Take into consideration all recommendations during the follow-up, even the rejected ones.

Recommendations

- Should be fewer in number;
- Be more precise (effective recommendations are precise, practical, constructive, forward looking, implementable and time-bound);
- Should complement those of treaty bodies and special procedures by calling on the ratification of conventions or withdrawal of reservations.

Implementation of recommendations

- Create a comprehensive system to track implementation of recommendations, with appropriate indicators;
- Produce mid-term reports;
- Ensure that States report on the status of implementation of the recommendations and explain why if some of them have still not been addressed.

Cooperation with other UN mechanisms

- Cooperate with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Special procedures, Treaty bodies, and United Nations specialized agencies and funds in order that they continue providing recommendations and technical assistance;
- Cooperate with Treaty bodies to implement common recommendations;
- Treaty bodies should consider rejected UPR recommendations during their constructive dialogue with States;
- Treaty bodies experts and Special Rapporteurs should participate in the technical assistance programs provided by UN agencies related to the implementation of Concluding observations (CoBs) and UPR recommendations.

Civil society participation

- Hold consultations with civil society before the draft of the national report;
- Include stakeholders consultations outcomes in the national report;
- Allocate more time to speak for NGOs at the Human Rights Council (HRC) plenary adoption;
- Allow civil society to intervene at an earlier stage at the UPR process;
- Give an official role to NGOs in monitoring the implementation of recommendations;
- Extend the participation in the HRC plenary adoption also to those NGOs which do not have ECOSOC status.