MINELRES: UNHCHR Minority Newsletter: August 2007
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Fri Sep 28 21:23:11 2007
Original sender: Rita Izsak <[email protected]>
Minority Update N�6 - August 2007
OHCHR Indigenous Peoples and Minorities Unit
Email: [email protected]
Table of contents
� New staff at OHCHR
� Independent Expert on minority issues
� Pilot Arabic speaking Minority Fellowship Programme
� Atsuko Tanaka-Fox
� Future forum/platform on or for minorities
� Preparations for Durban Review 2009
� Future workshop with Roma representatives in Latin America
� Treaty Bodies and country reviews
Staff at OHCHR
Dafina Hadri will be working in the minorities team of OHCHR as an
intern/researcher for four months. Dafina's email address is
[email protected]
Independent Expert on minority issues
Ms. Gay McDougall, the Independent Expert on minority issues, is
scheduled to undertake an official country visit to France from 19 to 28
September 2007.
For further information please contact:
Graham Fox: [email protected]
Minority Fellowship Programme
Pilot Arabic-speaking Minority Fellowship Programme - 2007
OHCHR is planning for the possible organization of a pilot Arabic
speaking Minority Fellowship Programme for one month from 16 November to
15 December 2007 in Geneva.
English Minority Fellowship Programme 2008
Applications forms for the English speaking OHCHR Minority Fellowship
programme for 2008 will be appearing on the OHCHR web site shortly.
Information at
http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/minorities/fellowprog.htm
Atsuko Tanaka-Fox
We are sorry to announce that Atsuko Tanaka-Fox, the representative of
the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and
Racism (IMADR), passed away on 27 August 2007. Many organizations and
individuals are paying tribute to Atsuko's work for combating racial
discrimination, especially discrimination on the basis of work and
descent.
Graham Fox, her husband, received many donations which are contributing
to the establishment of a scholarship in Atsuko's name to assist young
Dalit girls to progress in their education and to work in advocacy
against discrimination on behalf of their communities. The scholarship
is to be administered by the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights in
India and IMADR.
You may wish to contact Mr. Graham Fox, husband of Atsuko, and
secretariat member following the mandate of the Independent Expert on
minority issues.
Future forum/platform/group/body on or for minorities
This is to inform you that the Human Rights Council will meet in
September and discuss the issue of any future forum or body on or for
minorities. Such a discussion is provisionally scheduled for 12 and 18
or 19 September 2007.
Preparations for Durban Review 2009
The organizational session of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for
the Durban Review Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination,
Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR) took place from Monday 27 to
Friday 31 August 2007 in Geneva. The Preparatory Committee decided on
the following dates: 21 April to 2 May 2008 - the first substantive
session of the PrepCom, 6 to 17 October 2008 - the second substantive
session of the PrepCom (both in Geneva), the first half of 2009 the
Durban Review Conference (venue to be determined).
The objectives of the Durban Review Conference will be to:
1. Review progress and assess implementation of the Durban Declaration
and Programme of Action (DDPA) by all stakeholders at the national,
regional and international levels.
2. Assess the effectiveness of the existing Durban follow-up mechanisms
and other relevant United Nations mechanisms dealing with the issue of
racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in
order to enhance them;
3. Promote the universal ratification and implementation of the
International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial
Discrimination and proper consideration of the recommendations of the
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination;
4. Identify and share good practices achieved in the fight against
racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
It was also decided that NGOs that can participate in the preparatory
process of the Durban Review Conference as well as in the conference
itself will be:
1. NGOs with ECOSOC status
2. NGOs that were accredited for the WCAR (pending individual objections
from Member States which would be discussed during the PrepComs).
3. NGOs new to the process that have been approved after sending to the
Secretariat application forms which shall shortly be available at
http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/racism/groups/prep_committee_durban/index.ht
m#docs.
For a full text of the decision regarding the participation of NGOs and
all other decisions, see the draft report of the first PrepCom at
http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/racism/groups/prep_committee_durban/docs/pre
pcomdraft.doc.
Community-led training for Roma in Latin America
OHCHR is supporting a community-led training for Romani representatives
in Latin America on human rights capacity building, advocacy and
regional networking. The workshop is planned to take place in September
2007 in Argentina under the auspices of a Romani NGO AICRA (Identidad
Cultural Romani de Argentina) and with the participation of a former
OHCHR Minority Fellow from a Romani community as well as Romani
representatives from Europe.
Treaty Bodies and country reviews
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
held its 39th session (and celebrated its 25th anniversary year) from 23
July to 10 August 2007 in New York. It reviewed the reports of the: Cook
Islands, Belize, Brazil, Estonia, Guinea, Honduras, Hungary, Indonesia,
Jordan, Kenya, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Korea,
and Singapore.
A number of references to issues concerning women belonging to
minorities are contained in the concluding observations of: Hungary
concerning Roma women; Brazil and Honduras concerning women of African
descent; women living in different regions of Indonesia; women IDPs and
refugees in Kenya, Muslim women in Singapore; and participation in
public and political life of minority women in Norway. Recommendations
regarding the collection of disaggregated data including on the grounds
of ethnicity were contained in the concluding observations of Belize and
Norway.
More information at
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/39sess.htm
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
is scheduled to hold its 40th session from 14 January to 1 February
2008. The following is a list of States parties reports provisionally
scheduled to be examined during the next session: Saudi Arabia, Bolivia,
Burundi, France, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Morocco and Sweden.
More information at: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/40sess.htm
The Committee on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
(CERD) held its 71st session from 30 July to 17 August in Geneva. It
reviewed the reports of the following States parties to ICERD: Republic
of Moldova, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Korea, New Zealand,
Kyrgyzstan, Costa Rica, Mozambique and Democratic Republic of Congo.
References to ethnicity or the situation of minorities are contained in
all the concluding observations adopted by CERD.
More information at
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/cerds71.htm
The next session of the Committee on Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination (CERD) is scheduled to take place from 18 February to 7
March 2008 in Geneva. The Committee will consider the following reports
during the session: Republic of Moldova, Italy, Republic of Fiji
Islands, Belgium, Russian Federation, Dominican Republic, United States
of America and Nicaragua. Under the Committee's review procedure,
whereby it considers country situations in the absence of a State party
report, the following are tentatively listed for review: Gambia, Monaco,
Bulgaria, United Arab Emirates and Panama.
For more information please refer to:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/cerds72.htm
**************************************************************
Rita Izsak
Consultant, Civil Society Unit
Executive Direction and Management
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
UNOG-OHCHR, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel.: +41 22 917 9106
Fax: +41 22 917 9004
E-mail:
[email protected]
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