Some 25 civil society activists are learning about using alternative and shadow reports in advocacy and co-operation with international human rights institutions at a three-day OSCE-supported workshop that started today. The OSCE is co-sponsoring the event with the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Women's Participation Program of USAID implemented by Counterpart International.
"Shadow and alternative reports from civil society are an important complement to government reports to the UN and Council of Europe human rights treaty-body mechanisms which conduct regular assessments of each signatory government's compliance with its international legal obligations," said Melissa Stone, the Deputy Head of the OSCE Office in Baku, in her opening speech.
Michael Greene, the USAID/Azerbaijan Mission Director, highlighted the importance of international human rights mechanisms especially in promoting gender equality in Azerbaijan, noting that "the empowerment of women is now universally recognized as fundamental for the realization of human rights and key to the achievement of sustainable development."
The purpose of the training programme is to assist civil society members in increasing their understanding of how international human rights mechanisms work in practice, and to develop their writing and reporting skills for producing high-quality reports. International and national experts will deliver presentations on various treaty-body mechanisms, including the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). UPR is a United Nations process that every five years reviews each member state's progress on advancing human rights as a universal and indivisible rights-based legal framework. Azerbaijan's second review is scheduled for April 2013.
This workshop is an important part of the Office's programmatic activities within an OSCE project on strengthening civil society advocacy through international mechanisms. Throughout 2012, the OSCE Office in Baku has been working to help civil society promote human rights as a public interest concern in Azerbaijan. -0-
Politics
-
On 26 July "Platform III of the Republic" made a statement which drew attention to the unlawful seizure of electronic devices of underage children of the arrested head of this structure Akif Gurbanov.
-
From 19 to 26 July, 24 automatic rifles, 1 machine gun, 9 rifles, 28 grenades, 441 shells, 3118 cartridges of different calibre and other ammunition were found in Khankendi, the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry reported. During the mentioned period, the police found 1 machine gun, 50 grenades, 7 fuses, 3 shells and 320 cartridges of different calibre in Shusha.
-
President Ilham Aliyev has approved by decree the Azerbaijan-Kazakh intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in military intelligence defense sector. The document was signed in Baku on 7 June 2024.
-
At the trial of the opposition politician Tofig Yagublu, the statement of Elnur Vaqifoglu, another accused, was heard at the Baku Serious Crimes Court.
Leave a review