On 6 July 2011 the Permanent Mission of Uruguay to the United Nations in Geneva and the NGO Platform on the Right to Education, of which IIMA and VIDES International are members, organized a parallel event on “The Right to education: key to the MDGs, at Palais des Nations, in Geneva. The meeting organized in collaboration with the Permanent Missions of Portugal and Morocco, was moderated by H.E. Mr. Gert Rosenthal, Ambassador of Guatemala to the United Nations in New York. H.E. Ms. Laura Dupuy Lasserre, President of the Human...

On 22 and 23 June 2011, Ms. Magdalena Sepúlveda, Independent Expert on extreme poverty and human rights, presented her report during a meeting organized by the High Commissioner for the Human Rights. The primary objective of this meeting was to open a round of consultations with government representatives, Treaty Bodies and Special Procedures, UN agencies and civil society members in order to redefine the content of the guiding principles on extreme poverty and human rights formulated by the independent expert. These guidelines are an important tool to help States to...

On 24th June 2011, Tunisia decided to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), becoming the first country of North Africa to join with this body. For Tunisia, the Statute will be into force the first September 2011. This decision is very important considering the event happened recently in Tunisia, said the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon. The ICC appreciated the decision of the Tunisia government to join the efforts of the international community to fight against the most international crimes, such as crime against humanity, crime of aggression, and menace...

During the Conference hosted by the International Catholic Centre of Geneva on June 3rd and 4th, 2011, more than 70 catholic-inspired NGOs called for the ratification of the ILO Convention on Domestic Workers.The Convention was adopted on June 17th at the conclusion of the ILO Conference, opening it up for ratification by state parties.  This is a very important progress because until now domestic work has long been excluded from traditional labour protections such as minimum wage and access to labour courts, leaving domestic workers without social protection.  ...

On 20 June 2011, H.E. Ms. Laura Dupuy Lasserre, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Uruguay, was elected President of the Human Rights Council, on the occasion of the Organizational meeting that was held in Palais des Nations, Geneva.The president of the Human Rights Council, H.E. Mr. Phuangketkeow, introduced the brief speech of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Navy Pillay. She congratulated all members of the Council, and stakeholders such as NGOs and National Human Rights Institutions, for the commitments and efforts made during the last Human Rights...

On June 17th, 2011 an informal meeting between Maria Clara Martin Chief of the Americas Section of the Field Operations and Technical Cooperation Division of the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights, and some members of the IIMA Human Rights Office.During the meeting, Sr. MariaGrazia Caputo, Director of the Office, presented the future projects of IIMA, focusing on the Side Events that IIMA will organised on the occasion of the 18th and 19th sessions of the Human Rights Council. The first Side Event, set out by VIDES International,...

On June 17th 2011, a meeting between the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Haiti and some members of the IIMA Human Rights Office was held at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.The purpose of the meeting was to share a moment of reflection on the real situation and the progress in reconstruction in Haiti, as well as to assess new potential possibilities of collaboration, especially aimed to facilitate FMAs working in the country.At the beginning, Sr. MariaGrazia thanked Mr. Forst for the objective and exhaustive presentation of...

On the occasion of the 17th session of the Human Rights Council, on 16 June 2011, at Palais des Nations, the Independent Expert on the human rights situation on Haiti, Mr. Michel Forst, presented his annual report concerning the period between March 2010 and March 2011. Michel Forst opened his intervention remembering the recent presidential elections that led to the appointment of Michel Martelly, stressing that for the first time in the Haitian history a President, democratically elected, took office, replacing the previous democratically elected President, René Préval. This is,...

During his visit in Uruguay the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon thanked the Uruguay government to be the first contributors for peacekeeping operations and to make big efforts to maintain peace and security in some of the world’s most dangerous places. “When adjusted for population, no country contributes more troops than Uruguay”, he said.Since 1951, Uruguay served in more than 21 peacekeeping operations which involved 25.000 Uruguayans. Currently the Uruguayans troops are composed of 2400 persons under the blue flag.   To read more:http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=38731&Cr=peacekeepers&Cr1=...

UN has been accused by media reports of interference in work of Cambodian genocide court with regard to the mass killings and other crimes committed under the Khmer Rouge three decades ago.   The UN rejected the allegations saying that they defend and protect judiciary independence as well as the independent role of judges and prosecutors at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC).The UN categorically rejected Media reports that accuse that at least five UN staff in the ECCC’s investigations office have quit their posts since April following...