RE:[humanrights-talk] Part II of E-Discussion: How to Strengthen Engagement with the International HR Machinery?

Dear Colleagues,

Apologies for joining this E-discussion somewhat late, but many thanks for creating this interesting oppor tunity to exchange ideas and best practices on the UNCT engagement with the International Human rights machinery.

Thanks in particular to the moderator s and the facilitator for proposing wide-ranging and specific questions and leading this exciting discussion.
In the past two years, UNDP Niger has collabor ated on a few occasions with the Special Procedures:

1) In May 2005, our Country Office received a request of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on the situation of human rights defenders, Ms Hina Jilani, to help in answering a brief list of questions regarding the implementation of the Declaration on human rights defenders. As the questionnaire read in english and french is the main administrative language in Niger , we translated the document into french and it was sent to all national human rights NGO's. The responses were collected and we returned them with a summary (in french) to the OHCHR in Geneva.

The Special Representative used the infor mation as a basis for the evaluation of progress regarding human rights defenders in Niger.

After presentation of her repor t to the UN Human Rights Commission in 2006, UNDP circulated the repor t amongst national NGO's and they used it as a lobbying tool for mor e outspoken commitment of the government regarding the declaration on human rights defenders. An interesting outcome of this operation, was the sudden awairness of national NGO's and media about the (for merly unknown) declaration on human rights defenders. As a result, several articles appeared in the newspapers about the declaration on human rights defenders and any time a civil society actor would be arrested or harassed, a reference to the declaration on human rights defenders would be included in the public statement.

The collabor ation with the Special Representative surely raised greater awairness among national non-governmental actor s, citizens, but also in the governmental spheres. At one point, the prime minister of Niger has been recor ded as having said. "Why those critical repor ts about human rights of the OHCHR? Everybody knows, je suis le Premier défenseur des droits de l'homme ."

This may be just wor ds, but in the long run they may change mentalities, I think.
Maybe, the practice of sending lists of questions to UNCTs is a standard practice, but ever since the one-time request of SRSG Hina Jilani, we never received another questionnaire, whether from Hina Jilani or any other Special Rappor teur. Maybe our registry is dysfunctional and we received infor mation, but it did not flow to the appropriate unit or maybe no mor e such questionnaires were sent to UNCTs.

The list of questionnaires for UNCTs in preparation of the yearly repor ts (especially if they have a global reach) is an interesting practice, and could be generalised for all thematic Special Rappor teurs.

2) Mr Jean Ziegler, the Special Rappor teur on the right to food, twice visited Niger : in 2001 and 2005. His first repor t to the UN General Assembly in 2002 is still a salient reference wor k in understanding the key challenges in addressing the recurrent food crisises in Niger . It notably spells out very clearly the main obstacles to the realisation of the right to food. Agencies such as UNDP, OCHA and others have found interesting food for thought in those comprehensive reflections.

Besides, the Special Rappor teur's last-minute mission in July 2005 with a Television crew sparked sudden unexpected international media attention and clearly contributed to greater international awairness about the acuteness of the Nigerien food crisis. The UNCT had launched an appeal in April 2005 to cope with the upcoming food crisis, but only after the passage of the Special Rappor teur in July (maybe it wa s incidental, but probably it was instrumental) the international community reacted quite adequately with greatly needed funds, material suppor t and food.

Actually, befor ehand, the UNCT seemed wor ried about this blunt visit of the UN Special Rappor teur in July 2005. The UNCT hesitated to give the Special Rappor teur a warm welcome. Fears existed that the visit of the Special Rappor teur would enflame the already tense relations between the UNCT and the nigerien government at the time, that shor tly befor e was still unwilling to recognise the crisis. In the end, the visit of the Special Rappor teur proved catalytic to ensure free distribution of food to vulnerable groups and also, within a week afterwards, a first representative of OCHA landed from Dakar in Niamey .

Maybe the intial scepticism of the Resident Representatives about the Special Rappor teur, is due to unfamiliarity with the Special Procedures and the people involved. Their hesitation to request suppor t of a Special Rappor teur or simply to suppor t a visiting Special Rappor teur, could be avoided if Special Rappor teurs and Resident Representatives would know eachother well. As Special Rappor teurs become impor tant public figures, it may be impor tant to provide a space for Resident Representatives and Special Rappor teurs to meet each other. Maybe a seminar on how to strengthen UNCT engagement with the International Human Rights Machinery would be an interesting oppor tunity.

3) UNDP Niger has liased with the Special Rappor teur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children. Our office has provided national repor ts about the topic, as well as detailed infor mation about key actor s in the fight against trafficking in Niger . The simple exchange of contact details has allowed the OHCHR to directly contact national NGO's to receive up to date infor mation about the situation. The UNCT can play a pivotal role in building digital bridges between local and national NGOs and the International Human Rights Machinery in Geneva .

Mor eover, although Niger is a transit country of lots of trafficked people and it has been of special concern to the Special Rappor teur on trafficking (top 6 at one point in her prior ity list), the Special Rappor teur has not visited Niger. As the government would probably welcome such a visit. It is wor king on national law concerning trafficking and has ratified regional conventions, it would probably appreciate constructive advice of the Special Rappor teur. As the OHCHR is unable to finance numerous country visits/year, maybe it should be possible for special rappor teurs to visit countries on UNCT funds. Maybe this practice already exists. For sure, it has not been considered here. Wonder whether this would be an interesting avenue?

This is our experience with the Special Procedures, so far. A Guidance Note for UNCT on special procedures and treaty bodies can be accessed here.
Hope this is useful. Thanks for the discussion.

Best regards,
Samuel
Samuel De Jaegere
Analyste Gouvernance Démocratique
PNUD Niger - Niamey
Maison des Nations Unies
Tel.: +227 20 732104
Fax.: +227 20 723630
Cell.: +227 96 994459

From: bounce-1153144-214103@groups.undp.or g [mailto:bounce-1153144-214103@groups.undp.or g] On Behalf Of Guest Moderator s
Sent: 16 May 2007 14:26
Subject: [humanrights-talk] Part II of E-Discussion: How to Strengthen Engagement with the International HR Machinery?

Dear Colleagues,
We are entering the 4th week of our e-Discussion on ‘How to Strengthen Engagement with the International Human Rights Machinery?’ and moving on to Part II.
Part I invited you to explor e the topic of “Using International Human Rights Nor ms and Standards, and in Particular Human Rights Treaties, in the National Context ” . We extended this part to allow members to further explor e and expand on what is wor king and what is not in that area (a revised summary of all the contributions received to Part I will be circulated on the networ k shor tly). Part II takes us into discussion o n another impor tant part of the international human rights machinery: Special Procedures.

The term Special Procedures is used to describe a diverse range of mechanisms established by the Human Rights Council (previously the Human Rights Commission) to promote and monitor human rights in relation to specific thematic issues, or to examine the situation in a specific country . They are composed of experts appointed to serve as Special Rappor teurs , Special Representatives, Independent Experts or in Wor king Groups (on disappearances, arbitrary detention, etc). For a full explanation of Special Procedures, please see below.
We would like to invite our colleagues to share their experience on the issues raised by the following questions:

Part 2) Engaging with Special Procedures:

1.What have been the experiences of UN agencies and UNCTs in engaging with Special Procedures? i.e. Suppor ting/encouraging governments to invite Special Rappor teurs to visit the country? Assisting Special Procedures during the visits? Providing infor mation on relevance/implementability of their draft recommendations?

2.How has this engagement with the Special Procedures impacted on development wor k and/or country programming? In what ways could the engagement be improved?

We look for ward to your contributions.
Your Guest Moderator s,
Suki Beavers
Human Rights Specialist, UNDP Pacific Centre , Fiji Islands
Alfonso Barragues
Human Rights Officer, MDG Unit, OHCHR, Geneva
Wan-Hea Lee
Secretary, United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, OHCHR, Geneva
Daniel Seymour
Head of Gender Equality and Human Rights Unit, UNICEF New Yor k

What are Special Procedures?

The term Special Procedures is used to describe a diverse range of mechanisms established by the Human Rights Council (For mer Commission on Human Rights) to promote and monitor human rights in relation to specific thematic issues, or to examine the situation in specific countries. These mechanisms are composed of wor king groups of experts or individuals who have been appointed as Special Rappor teurs, Special Representatives or Independent Experts . The principal functions of Special Procedures include: analyse the relevant thematic issue or country situation on behalf of the Human Rights Council; advise on measures to be taken by the Government(s) concerned and other relevant actor s; alert United Nations or gans and agencies and the international community in general to the need to address specific situations and issues; advocate on behalf of the victims of violations through measures such as requesting urgent action by relevant States and calling upon Governments to respond to specific allegations of human rights violations and provide redress; activate and mobilize the international and national communities to address particular human rights issues and to encourage cooperation among Governments, civil society and inter-governmental or ganizations. Special procedures repor t to the Human Rights Council and, in some cases, to the General Assembly. As of May 2007 there are 28! thematic mandates and 13 country-specific mandates.
For mor e infor mation on Special Procedures, please see: OHCHR web page on Special Procedures assumed by the Human Rights Counci l