ARAB COUNTRIES TO MEET IN CAIRO FROM 6 – 8 MARCH TO DISCUSS STRENGTHENING

NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS TO PROMOTE AND PROTECT HUMAN RIGHTS

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 4 March (UN Information Service) -- Representatives of national institutions, governments and civil society from throughout the Arab region will meet in Cairo from 6 to 8 March to discuss establishing or strengthening national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights.

The three-day international conference on the building of national human rights protection systems is being convened by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the National Council for Human Rights of Egypt and the United Nations Development Programme, in cooperation with the League of Arab States.

The conference will bring together representatives of national human rights institutions and human rights and justice ministries from Member States of the League of Arab States.  The meeting will also include representatives of national human rights institutions from outside the Arab region, as well as non-governmental organizations with consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, League of Arab States Secretary-General Amr Moussa, and Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Mehr Khan Williams will open the conference. 

Conference Goals

The objectives of the conference are to:

-- raise awareness among participants on the Paris Principles, the guiding standards for national human rights institutions relating to independence; accessibility; pluralism, broadly-based mandates and cooperation with others;

-- exchange experiences on national human rights institutions and gather lessons learned from other regions; and

-- encourage the strengthening of existing institutions in conformity with the Paris Principles and the establishment of Paris Principle-based institutions in countries where such institutions are non-existent.

Enhancing National Protection Systems

The enhancement of national protection systems is a priority of the Secretary-General’s reform programme.  In 2002 the Secretary-General wrote, “Building strong human rights institutions at the country level is what in the long run will ensure that human rights are protected and advanced in a sustained manner.  The emplacement or enhancement of a national protection system in each country, reflecting international human rights norms, should therefore be a principal objective of the [United Nations] Organization” (document A/57/387 of 9 September 2002).

The conference will open on Sunday, 6 March at 10 a.m. in the Teeba Hall of the Hotel Semiramis Intercontinental.  For further information contact José Luis Díaz, tel.:  +41 22 917 9242.

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