10-27 April 2007 - Human Rights Council open ended working groups

Room XVII

In accordance with Human Rights Council decision 1/103 and 1/104, the intergovernmental working groups on the establishement of the Universal Periodic Review and Review of mandates, mechanisms, functions and responsibilities, and agenda, Rules of Procedures and working methods will meet between 10 and 27 April 2007. All working documentation is available on the OHCHR extranet.

Useful links and resources on the HRC 

Find more resources on the CONGO website about Human Rights.

Outcome of the NGO preparatory meeting to the HRC WG - 9 November 2006

 Ambassador de Alba, President of the Human Rights Council, held an informal discussion with NGOs on the up-coming 2nd resumed and 3rd sessions of the Human Rights Council, which took place on Wednesday 22 November from 2:00 to 3:00 pm in Room VII, Palais des Nations. Download the informal summary.

Download the summary report of the NGO preparatory meeting on the HRC Intersession Working.

Participants in the NGO preparatory meeting (9 November 2006) recognised that better information exchange and space for discussion among NGOs should take place during those two weeks of Working Group meetings. To that end, participants in the meeting agreed on the principle that NGO brainstormings should be organised every morning before the beginning of the HRC Working Group meeting, with the view to strategize and exchange views on the issues to be addressed during the day.

NGO representatives who are planning to participate in and contribute to meetings related to the HRC Working Groups are therefore invited to gather at 9:30 AM at Serpentine Bar or at NGO Lounge (UN Geneva) on a daily basis until 24 November 2004.

[  Next NGO morning briefing on Wednesday 22 November at 9:30 am, NGO Lounge]

NGO are also invited to send their contributions on those four issues addressed by the Working Groups, which will be aggregated in addition to the issues and points identified during the NGO preparatory meeting. Send your contributions at humanrights@ngocongo.org.

Short summaries of the proceedings will also be provided on this webpage by CONGO on a daily basis. In depth analytical reports will be provided by the International Service for Human Rights at the end of the first week and at the beginning of the HRC 3rd session.

Announcement of the NGO preparatory meeting

The two intergovernmental Working Groups established by the Human Rights Council at its first session will meet between 13 and 24 November 2006. The draft timetable of meetings was recently circulated by the OHCHR.

In this context, the undersigned NGOs invite all interested NGO representatives to participate in an Informal Session to share information and views in preparation of these intergovernmental working groups:

Date:    Thursday, 9 November 2006

Time:   14:00 to 18:00

Place:  1, rue de Varembé, Geneva,
Meeting Room at the Ground Floor,
Tram 13 and 15, Stop Sismondi

The main objective of this meeting will be

1. to share up-dated information on the state of the discussions and
2. to consider options and proposals related to the Universal Period Review and the review of Special Procedures, Expert Advice and the Complaint Procedure.

Some possible outcomes of this meeting could be

1. the establishment of information exchange devices during the Working Group meetings and
2. the self-organization of NGO groupings leading to joint contributions to the Working Groups.

Draft agenda:

14:00-15:45: Universal Periodic Review
            * Coffee break *
16:15-18:00: Review of Special Procedures, Expert Advice and the Complaint Procedure

Centre Europe-Tiers Monde (CETIM)
Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the UN (CONGO)
Pax Romana
Lutheran World Federation
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)

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Useful Background Information:

Human Rights Council -            http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/
                                             http://www.wilpf.int.ch/humanrights/hrindex.htm 
                                             /index.php?what=resources&id=10136 
Universal Periodic Review -      http://www.wilpf.int.ch/humanrights/2006/UPR/UPR_web1.html
                                             State Positions on the UPR (provided by WILPF) 
Complaint mechanism -           Positions expressed by various stakeholders during the HRC 2nd session
Review of mandate -               Key issues on review of mandates (provided by Pax Romana)
Expert Advice mechanism -      Non paper resented by Jordan on 15 Sept. 2006