Within the framework of the UPR project as a tool for improving public policies
Joint meeting of the Steering Committee and the Board of Trustees of the Civil Society Organizations Alliance for the UPR
On Sunday August 28, 2016, Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights hosted a joint meeting of the Project Steering Committee "The Universal Periodic Review as a Tool to Improve Public Policies during the Transition", And an alliance board of trustees Civil Society Organizations for the Universal Periodic Review, Which was established in May 2016 from 26 NGOs with the aim of building a sustainable institutional entity to support and follow up the implementation of Egypt's voluntary pledges emanating from the UPR recommendations.
During the meeting, the project’s achievements since its inception in January 2016 were presented, including a set of planned and unplanned activities that have been completed, which included a set of training workshops to build the capacities of civil society organizations ’cadres, media professionals, and internet activists on the universal periodic review mechanism. Round tables and hearings with a group of policy experts, jurists, parliamentarians, and leaders of civil work organizations to adopt new policies compatible with Egypt's international obligations, and a number of appeals, policy papers, and legislation proposals produced by the Foundation's Policy Analysis Unit with the aim of proposing alternatives and contributing to creating Solutions to help the state fulfill its obligations to the international mechanism.
The participants also discussed ways for the project to cooperate with a group of international bodies, especially in the fields of education and women, through the steering committee of the project, including UNESCO, the League of Arab States, and the National Council for Women by addressing recommendations related to women and education and working to find appropriate solutions to some challenges and problems related to These sectors are special.
For its part, the Board of Trustees approved the proposed coalition action plan that was discussed during the meeting, and the most important recommendations of the Council included the necessity to open permanent communication channels with all relevant stakeholders at the national and international levels. The Board also approved the organization of “50 عي community meetings in the governorates of Egypt to introduce the review mechanism. The Universal Periodic League, and mandating the legal members of the Council to prepare drafts of family laws, transitional justice, the National Elections Commission for approval through the Council and then send them to the relevant ministries and the House of Representatives.
The coalition also discussed progress in preparing the first semi-annual report to follow up on the recommendations of the universal periodic review, which is expected to be issued by the coalition within two weeks, as well as the approval of the Council to designate a spokesperson for the coalition in order to facilitate the participation of the coalition in public discussions related to the issues that fall within the scope of The work of the coalition, facilitating communication with the media and announcing the coalition's position on current events.
It is worth noting that the “Universal Periodic Review as a tool to improve public policies during the transitional phase” seeks to enhance the role of the UPR to improve public policies and reform human rights during the transitional phase in Egypt by actively involving civil society organizations, activists and media professionals in following up and advocating for the necessary reform of rights And adopting new policies compatible with international human rights standards, based on the 2014 universal periodic review.
More updated news about the project activities is available at the following link:
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