UPR Advocacy Auckland, 23rd October 2018

CSO engagement

Why should CSOs engage? The mechanism works Governments and CSOs are brought together CSOs are strengthened by the process It is a great opportunity to increase awareness and knowledge of human rights issues in a country

Advocacy entry points

Advocacy entry points State under Review National Consultations After UPR review before final adoption of recs Implementation Recommending State In-country via embassies In Geneva via Permanent Missions Pre-sessions

Civil Society at the UPR

Written submission Word limit: 2,815 (individual); 5,630 (joint) Main issues of concern, expressed clearly and concisely Information on the recommendations and follow up on previous cycles Refer to human rights instruments Credibility: Avoid second-hand information Remember submissions are public (safety and protection of HRDs)

SMART recommendations

Advocacy: Identifying States What States made recommendations on your advocacy issue to the SuR during the 2nd cycle? What States are generally interested in the issue? UPR Info database: access recommendations & voluntary pledges by State, theme, cycle etc. http://www.upr-info.org/database/ https://www.upr-info.org/database/

UPR Advocacy Factsheets

UPR Advocacy Factsheets Originated in Mongolia (CSO coalition), developed into good practice 1 pager, highlighting main points from the submission At-a-glance advocacy tool Requested by diplomats (Pre-sessions), welcomed by Government (Thailand) Demonstrates added value of CSOs Mongolia, Thailand, Ghana, Sri Lanka, Moldova, Uganda, Myanmar, Venezuela, Japan, Colombia, Canada, United Arab Emirates, etc.

UPR Advocacy Factsheets Structure: good practices from developing factsheets Name and logo of the coalition on each factsheet Theme: what theme does the factsheet address? Summary of key issues from previous reviews: recommendations and implementation status National framework: relevant national legislation, statistics, policies and initiative Challenges/Impact: note key rights challenges and their impact, justifying the needs for CSO suggested recommendations Recommendations: extract the SMART recommendations for the corresponding theme from the submission Sources: reference all claims made in the factsheet.

UPR Advocacy Factsheets Drafting: good practices from developing factsheets Layout: make the factsheet appealing. In-house expertise or outsourcing Folder: collect all factsheet in a folder to facilitate strategic advocacy Colour coding: give each factsheet a specific colour Thematic groups: summarises its contribution to a factsheet, Group rapporteurs bear the responsibility to finalise the folder Advocacy: good practices from developing factsheets Strategic advocacy: research which Recommending states are interested in what themes Electronic copies: share in advance with targeted diplomats (Wellington, Geneva, capital) Share with the Government and UN agencies at home Invaluable instruments to complement oral interventions at Pre-sessions

UPR Advocacy Factsheets Sri Lanka, 2017 Name and logo of the coalition/organisation Theme Summary of key issues from previous UPR cycles

UPR Advocacy Factsheets Sri Lanka, 2017 4. Description of the national framework

UPR Advocacy Factsheets Sri Lanka, 2017 5. Key challenges and their impact

UPR Advocacy Factsheets Sri Lanka, 2017 5. Key challenges and their impact

UPR Advocacy Factsheets Sri Lanka, 2017 6. Recommendations

Identifying UPR trends UPR Info’s statistics tool can help identify: What States make the most/fewest recommendations; Increase/decrease in recommendations from one cycle to the next; How SMART the recommendations are; The most frequently/rarely addressed human rights issues; The acceptance level per issue https://www.upr-info.org/database/statistics/ https://www.upr-info.org/database/statistics/

Advocacy: Pre-sessions

Engage in In-country Pre-sessions In-Country Pre-sessions are interactive meetings between national CSOs and embassies in the SuR. They ensure broad consultations among national UPR stakeholders and reinforce sustainable links between national CSOs and embassies, prior to the review in Geneva.

Impact of the Pre-sessions Strengthening women’s rights in Nepal - Several recs made to reform the narrow definition of rape Recognition for the rights of indigenous people in Rwanda - The no. of recs tripled in the 2nd cycle Decriminalisation of defamation in Mongolia - Three recs made, all three States present at the Pre-session Promotion of Gender diversity in Samoa Creation of a new UPR coalition in Niger First-time international advocacy and dialogue in Myanmar

Advocacy during the review Broadcast the webcast in the country Issue a press release/public statement Live monitor on social media Twitter campaign: Indian CSO example #UPRIndia3 Think of short and catchy hashtag

Advocacy after the Review Before the adoption Meet with the State under Review to persuade them to accept key recommendations for your organisation Noted recommendations: raise awareness about it -> Question the Government about the decision and try to make them change their position At the adoption During the Human Rights Council (for NGOs with ECOSOC Status) Make an oral statement Video statement Submit a written statement

Follow-up Coordination Coalitions, strategy, matrices Collaboration Government, NHRI, RS, int’l organisations, Media! Communication Popularising UPR, mid-term reports Publish the result of the review Translate recommendations Make the recommendations understandable Use the recommendations in other mechanisms: treaty bodies, special procedures, regional mechanisms

UPR Achievements Fiji abolished the death penalty in its military code Thailand and Republic of Korea criminalised marital rape Seychelles & Nauru decriminalised same-sex activity Burkina Faso established the National Council to Combat Female Circumcision, and introduced the issue in school curricula Morocco established a national preventive mechanism against torture Switzerland is in the process of establishing a national human rights institution Paraguay established an online platform («SIMORE») to monitor human rights recommendations, including UPR One of its main results is the digital platform SIMORE (System for Monitoring Recommendations). SIMORE is an institutional mechanism that allows the executive, legislature and judiciary to work together with independent institutions to follow up on recommendations from the Organisation of American States and the UN that fall within the remit of their respective mandates.

Media’s role

Media Role of journalists in the UPR Engaging the independent media in the UPR mechanism provides another level of scrutiny of State actions. Best practice:

Media Role of journalists in the UPR Before the review: raise awareness about what the mechanism is Popularise the UPR in mainstream media and social media by publishing articles on what the UPR is, New Zealand’s performance and how it affects the human rights of ordinary citizens. Link their day-to-day reporting to relevant UPR recommendations During the review: Follow the review by live webcast: update social media so readers can follow the discussion; create a hashtag to link all information. Organise live-screenings, invite guests for real-time discussions. Tip: Follow UPR Info’s Twitter account to receive updates on the UPR, live from the United Nations @UPRinfo

Media Role of journalists in the UPR After the review: Collaborate with national NGOs to organise a press conference discussing the outcome of the UPR Reach out to the relevant government ministries to ask for an interview: question them about what recommendations they will accept Work with civil society to translate recommendations to local languages Make the recommendations understandable for non-specialist audiences Publish the results of the review (in mainstream and online media): what type of recommendations did New Zealand receive? Explain to the readers the next steps After the adoption: Publish the results of the adoption of the report: i.e. what recommendations did New Zealand accept and what recommendations did it note Explain the next steps of the process to the public: implementation of recommendations and mid-term reports Reach out to government representatives for comments

Useful links UPR Info: Database: Factsheets: UPR analyses: https://www.upr-info.org/ Database: https://www.upr-info.org/database/ Factsheets: https://www.upr-info.org/en/how-to/documentation-for-ngos/lobbying UPR analyses: https://www.upr-info.org/en/analyses/UPR-Info-documents Lobbying material: