On February 1-3, the Open Society Georgia Foundation together with Open Society Foundations will host an international conference on the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a new and unique mechanism of the United Nations which started in 2008 and involves a review of the human rights practices of all UN Member States once every four years.
The UPR is a significant innovation of the Human Rights Council which is based on equal treatment for all countries. It provides an opportunity for all States to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to overcome challenges to the enjoyment of human rights.
The UPR conference will bring together representatives of local civil society organizations and over 90 foreign experts from around the world to represent the global perspective on UPR work.
The event will involve:
1. Discussion of the larger process and UPR Reform;
2. Feedback on the implementation of recommendations, from several NGOs, and a discussion of how to conduct follow-up monitoring. How do NGOs and NGO coalitions make concrete and address the recommendations? Have any NGOs created good systems to measure follow-up?
3. Workshops focusing on advocacy and coalition-building, submissions writing.
