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September 24, 2012
in News EN

On Monday September 10th the Human Rights Council opened its 21st Session, in Geneva. The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, in his opening speech, encouraged the Ambassadors, Member State representatives, and NGOs to “use all our tools to shine the light of human rights everywhere”. While recalling main international issues requiring to be addressed, he mentioned his expectations for this Session, which are: To enforce the perspective of Human Rights in every instance of the United Nations. To ensure protection of human rights defenders and avoid impunity. To draw special attention to women’s rights. Next to take the floor, the High Commissioner for...

July 12, 2012
in News EN

On 4th July 2012, the Istituto Internazionale Maria Ausiliatrice (IIMA) organized a side event at Palais des Nations, Geneva, with the support of VIDES International. The event was co-sponsored by the Permanent Missions of Haïti, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Holy See and the NGOs Platform on the Right to Education. The event focused on the current situation in Haïti, with special regards to education, and on results of the humanitarian intervention in the country after two years from the earthquake. The panel consisted of representatives of governments, UN and civil society and as such, the issue...

July 9, 2012
in News EN

On the 21st of June, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, and the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, presented reports to the Human Rights Council focused upon protecting the rights of journalists.  Both emphasised the unacceptable worldwide level of violence against both professional and unprofessional journalists. They asserted that it was local journalists who were most vulnerable. According to the reports only 10 percent of murders committed against journalists results in any form of conviction.  Mr Heyns highlighted a recent instance in Mexico where a non professional journalist was...

July 9, 2012
in News EN

On the 21st of June, the Human Rights Council held an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights and a clustered interactive dialogue with both the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises and the Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights. María Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona, Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights,  expressed gratitude that extreme poverty was being prioritised but criticised...

July 9, 2012
in News EN

On the 20th of June 2012 the NGO Platform on diversity and cultural rights hosted an event on the subject of cultural rights. The main speaker of the side event was the Special Rapporteur in the Field of Cultural Rights, Ms Farida Shaheed. As the first mandate holder, her job began with identifying cultural rights, based on the assumption that everyone has the right to take part in cultural life. This consists of three elements:  The right to access for culture, the right to participate in, and to contribute to culture. She highlighted the utmost importance of...

July 2, 2012
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On the 22nd of June the UN conference on sustainable development, Rio +20, came to a close. 191 national delegations produced a final document entitled: “The future we want”. The document contains 283 articles which detail the commitments of the international community to global sustainable development. The document focuses in particular on green economy, which was described as: “one of the important tools available for achieving sustainable development which could provide options for policy making”. The document highlights the pressing need for global governance for sustainable development through the strengthening of the institutional framework. This framework should be inclusive, transparent and effective. In addition, the...

June 28, 2012
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On the 19th of June, the Human Rights Councils held a clustered dialogue with Mr Kishore Singh, Special Rapporteur on the right to education. Mr Singh reported that, despite the considerable progress made in universalizing access to primary school, education remained of worrying low quality in many areas. He added that it is essential to promote the right to education both as entitlement in terms of universal access to basic education and as a tool of empowerment, enabling the acquisition of values, knowledge, skills and competencies. To conclude, the Special Rapporteur recommended that States accord high priority to...

June 26, 2012
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On the 14th of June, the 101st Conference of the International Labour Organization (ILO) was visited by the Burmese opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, General Secretary of the National League for democracy (NLD) and, since April 2012, Member of the Parliament of Republic of Union of Myanmar. Ms. Suu Kyi was visiting Europe for the first time in 24 years, most of which had been spent under house arrest since the Burmese military regime – still governing -  condemned her. During the ILO Conference Ms. Suu Kyi addressed the issue of youth employment in Myanmar, drawing attention to...

June 26, 2012
in News EN

On the 13th of June Mr G. Napolitano, the Italian President, addressed the 101st International Labour Conference. He expressed great concern regarding widespread unemployment in Europe and around the world, particularly among the youth, and recalled  - through the words of the economist Federico Caffé – that labour is not only a means of production, but a primary end in itself. As such, States should consider it as a priority in public policies. The Italian President emphasised that, within the EU, leaders had started to talk about the importance of stimulating growth, along with fiscal...

June 21, 2012
in News EN

"Simply put, participatory, accountable, non-discriminatory and empowering development is more effective, more just and ultimately more sustainable." On June 12th, 2012, prior the UN Rio +20 Conference on sustainable development, The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms Navi Pillay, stated that sustainable development would not be possible without taking into account human rights. She asserted that “strategies based on the narrow pursuit of economic growth without due regard for equity and related environmental, social and human right considerations, will both fail in their economic objectives, and risk damaging the planet and the fundamental rights of people.”  “In...

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