Nkosi: We need to increase civil society spaces in Rwanda to open communication with the government and integrate us through consultations

"Bukum": Legislation must be activated at the Parliament table to protect Mauritanian women from violence as quickly as possible

Mennatullah Bakr: We reiterate our recommendations to the Sultanate of Oman to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

“Pasha”: The participation of the three countries in the universal periodic review mechanism expresses their willingness to promote human rights

Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights organized an information meeting, on Friday, January 29, 2021, on the sidelines of the 37th session of the Universal Periodic Review Mechanism, on the subject of Rwanda, Mauritania and the Sultanate of Oman to the third review before the Working Group in Geneva.

Mr. Cyrus Nkusi, Executive Director of the "Governance in Africa" organization participated in the meeting, explaining the most prominent challenges facing human rights in his country, which he outlined in the absence of a clear roadmap to deal with the human rights file, and the need for further consultations with civil society and the private sector. During consultations for the review process thereafter.

For his part, Mr. Mohamed Boukoum, Secretary General of the "Mauritanian Association for Fighting Dependency," which dealt with the constitutional and legal framework for combating violence against women, as well as children's rights and combating their labor and exploitation. It also covered government efforts to combat slavery and human trafficking. "Bochum" recommended that the legislation on the parliament table be quickly activated, especially with regard to violence against Mauritanian women.

Mennat Allah Bakr, the Head of the International Mechanisms for the Protection of Human Rights at the Maat Foundation, participated in presenting the statements of the Omani organizations regarding the human rights situation in the Sultanate in light of their subjection to review, as 99 member states of the United Nations participated in the interactive dialogue with the Sultanate’s participating delegation, and submitted 8 previous questions for the dialogue. The Sultanate received 264 recommendations, about which it was supposed to be received by the 47th session of the Human Rights Council in June 2021, and recommendations were repeated from the second session of the third review, which was to call on the Sultanate to cooperate with the UN human rights mechanisms, especially the ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The session was moderated by Abd al-Rahman Pasha, Deputy Director of the African Affairs and Sustainable Development Unit at the Maat Foundation, explaining that the participation of the three countries in the UPR mechanism is an expression of the countries ’willingness to face the existing challenges that impede the citizens’ enjoyment of all rights, even if there are many rights. Which has witnessed a significant decline in these countries in the last four years.

It is worth noting that the 37th session of the UPR in its third session is being held virtually, given the repercussions of the Covid-19 virus.