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November 3, 2016
in News EN

The Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group is holding its 26th session at the  Palais des Nations from October 31 to November 11.  The UPR is a state-driven process in which States present the steps they have taken to fulfill their human rights obligations and committments, assessing both positive developments and identfying challenges. Each State review is facilitated by groups of three Council members from different regional groups, or troikas, who act as rapporteurs.  The reviews are based on information obtained from three different sources: 1) from the State...

October 28, 2016
in News EN

On October 21, 2016, IIMA attended the 25th Special Session of the Human Rights Council in Room XX of the Palais des Nations. This event was organized due to the urgency of addressing the emergency human rights situation in Aleppo, Syria.The Special Session was proposed by the United Kingdom on behalf of a core group of States including Germany, France, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United States, and supported by 33 other Member States. The day was used as a discussion platform for Resolution A/HRC/S-25/L.1, which...

October 24, 2016
in #youth, News EN

On 20 October 2016, the United Nations Institute for  Training and Research (UNITAR) hosted the panel discussion, “Young People as a Driving Force to Prevent Violent Extremism.” The panel discussed the capacity of young people to be drivers of positive change and leadership, particularly for youth in fragile settings. The speakers included retired Lieutenant General Romeo Dallaire, Amanda Fazzone, Senior Countering Violent Extremism Officer of global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF), and trained psychologist Dr. Ellis. UNITAR executive Nikhil Seth moderated the event that took place in Room XXIII in...

October 20, 2016
in News EN

On 17th October IIMA attended the event organized by UNRISD, the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, called “Walking the Talk: Transformative Pathways for Achieving the SDGs. The conference focused on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a global commitment to “transforming our world” and “eradicating poverty in all its forms everywhere”. The panelists discussed about the progress that has been achieved until now. They underlined also the need to address the causes of the inequitable outcome, creating specific innovation policies and new...

October 20, 2016
in News EN

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos was the recipient of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize earlier this month. This is a result of Santos’ work to end his country’s 50-year civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions. President Santos initiated the negotiations that led to the signing of a peace accord between the Colombian government and the FARC guerillas. This means that the country is currently in  a ceasefire; however, a permanent peaceful solution has not yet been devised. Nevertheless, President Santos’ efforts have brought the country closer...

October 20, 2016
in News EN

On 7 October 2016, IIMA and VIDES attended the UNOG Library Event on the topic “UN and Women’s Leadership: How can we move forward?” The theme took a cue from Torild Skard’s book Women of Power: Half a century of female presidents and prime ministers worldwide which is a comprehensive overview of how and why women in 53 countries rose to the top in the years since the World War II. Michael Møller, Director General, UNOG, and Geneva Gender Champion gave his welcome remarks. The panel was moderated by Sigrun Habermann,...

October 17, 2016
in News EN

Today is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. This year, the theme celebrated is "Moving from humiliation and exclusion to participation: Ending poverty in all its forms." Let us remember that poverty is a multi-faceted reality: aside from material deprivation, it also entails exclusion from the basic opportunities and liberties that allow human beings to flourish in their environment. For more information: http://www.un.org/en/events/povertyday/...

October 12, 2016
in News EN

In 2010 Haiti was decimated by an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale. Still struggling to recuperate from this devastating tragedy, last week Haiti was hit by its largest natural disaster since the earthquake: Hurricane Matthew. Characterized as the worst Caribbean storm in a decade, Haiti’s death count has reached 900. According to the BBC, some areas have seen 90% destruction. Churches, schools and homes have been reduced to rubble. The situation has aggravated Haiti’s cholera epidemic, which has already left 10,000 people dead since the events in 2010. A...

October 11, 2016
in News EN

On October 5th, the United Nations Security Council unanimously nominated António Guterres to replace Ban Ki-moon as the 9th UN Secretary General. The appointment will be formalized after the 71st session of the UN General Assembly to take place later this month. Guterres hails from Portugal, where he was Prime Minister from 1995 until 2002. In 2005, he took on the position of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The election of Guterres came as a surprise, as the climate seemed to favor the election a woman from Eastern...

October 6, 2016
in News EN

The last week of the HRC session began with the Annual Discussion on the Integration of a Gender Perspective.  The panel discussed issues of import that still affect women in some parts of the world such as female genital mutilation and sexual violence in prisons.  But there appears to be some hope of improving gender perspective and integration through the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).  Gender-related recommendations are the second most prevalent theme in the UPR; however, we were reminded of the Chinese saying that “the blossoming of a single flower...

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