– Newsletter
– April 2009 –
The Geneva Office of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES Geneva) presents
its newsletter, designed to inform you, of recent and upcoming events and
developments at the Geneva-based international organizations and new publications.
If you do not want to receive this newsletter please Unsubscribe.
Das Genfer
Büro der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) freut sich, Ihnen unseren jüngsten
Newsletter vorzustellen. Dieser enthält Informationen über unsere Veranstaltungen und Neuerscheinungen und
bringt Sie auf den neuesten Stand von Entwicklungen in Genfer internationalen
Organisationen. Sollten Sie diesen Newsletter nicht erhalten wollen, dann
können Sie Ihn hier
abbestellen.
Index |Upcoming Events | Recent Events | Publications | Subscribe |
*******************************************************************************
Please note that participation in all events is by invitation only.
20 – 24 APRIL 2009 | DURBAN REVIEW CONFERENCE
Following the activities of the UN human rights system, FES Geneva will soon provide a summary of the upcoming Durban Review Conference, which is taking place in Geneva from 20-24 April.
http://www.un.org/durbanreview2009/
International Conference on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation
The new US Administration has
brought a new dynamic to disarmament efforts. With the promise of a renewal of
START, and the expressed intent of world leaders to earnestly discuss a
nuclear-free world, the Geneva Centre for Security Policy and FES Geneva, in
collaboration with UNIDIR, organize two high-level public discussions (see
below) on the most topical of these issues, related to the International
Conference on Disarmament, whose second session will take place from 18 May to
3 July.
http://www.unog.ch/80256EE600585943/(httpPages)/2D415EE45C5FAE07C12571800055232B?OpenDocument
Public discussions on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation
Ø 26 May 2009 | FES Geneva | Geneva
Centre for Security Policy | UNIDIR | Public Discussion on “New strategic
content for disarmement”
Ø 25 June 2009 | FES Geneva |
Geneva Centre for Security Policy | UNIDIR | Public discussion on “The
vision of a nuclear weapons-free world: Zero option as a realistic
approach”
18 – 19 May 2009, Geneva | UNCTAD-UN-NGLS Symposium | the global economic crisis and development – the way forward | palais des nations
UNCTAD, in
collaboration with the United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service
(UN-NGLS) and other partner organizations, will hold its first public
symposium, titled "The global economic crisis and development-
the way forward", on 18 and 19 May 2009 at the Palais des Nations in
Geneva. FES Geneva will support the symposium and will host a side event during
the event. For further information see www.unctad.org/publicsymposium
2 – 18 June 2009, Geneva | 11TH Session of the human rights council
The 11th
Session of the Human Rights Council will again be in the focus of our human
rights work from 2-18 June, featuring among many regular agenda items and
topics the adoption of the UPR report on Germany. On this occasion, we will
organize a public parallel event, discussing with Herta Däubler-Gmelin, MP
and Chairwoman of the Human Rights Committee of the German Bundestag, the
role of
Parliaments in the UPR process. Although obvious important players in any implementation
of human rights legislation and policy, their role has been neglected so far in
this mechanism. To address this issue, FES Geneva will invite parliamentarians
and NGO representatives from different regions to elaborate on possibilities
for meaningful involvement of parliaments in the UPR.
http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/genf/06264.pdf
*******************************************************************************
22 – 24 January, 2009 | Geneva | Expert Meeting on Human Rights and Climate Change
FES
Geneva in collaboration with the Center for International Environmental Law
(CIEL) invited in January a group of 20 experts and representatives of human
rights and environmental organizations to a two day brain storming workshop
outside Geneva on Practical Approaches to Integrating Human Rights and Climate
Change Law and Policy.
The
former High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Mary Robinson, attended the
workshop alongside the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Mr. Olivier De
Schutter and the Independent Expert on Water and Sanitation, Ms. Catarina de Albuquerque.
The result of the consultation is a comprehensive set of recommendations to the
human rights and climate regimes to address the threats climate change is
posing to the enjoyment of human rights. These are meant to complement the
report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Navanethem Pillay, on the
linkages between climate change and human rights and were presented at a Parallel
Event to the 10th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on 9th March. A
considerable number of recommendations have already been endorsed by different
actors and are on the way to being put into practice, e.g a panel debate at the
June session of the Human Rights Council.
http://www.fes-globalization.org/geneva/documents/HumanRights/25Feb09_Conference_Report.pdf
30 January, 2009 | Geneva | Public parallel event on the “situation of discrimination against women”
On
January 30 FES Geneva hosted a Parallel Event at the United Nations Committee on
the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women in
Germany. Members of the Alliance of German Women’s Organizations
discussed with members of the CEDAW committee and international women’s
organizations about substantial deficiencies in the field of
anti-discrimination and gender equality.
26 February, 2009 Geneva | SCENARIO BUILDING PROCESS ON epa & ecowas cOUNTRIES
A
scenario building workshop on Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA’s) and
regional integration in West Africa was organized in cooperation with the South
Centre on February 26. It was the third meeting of the FES/South Centre
scenario project on EPA’s, with two teams in Geneva and in West Africa
(Cotonou/Benin). At the workshop, four scenarios on the impact of EPA’s
on regional integration in West Africa by the year 2020 were drafted. These
scenarios were the basis for the common workshop of both teams in Cotonou on
March 25 and 26, were the scenarios were further elaborated. The refined
scenarios will later be handed over to decision-makers and stakeholders and
presented at public events in Geneva (FES Geneva/South Centre) and in West
Africa (through the FES regional project on trade and development).
2 – 27 February, 2009 Geneva | 10th session of the human rights council
From
2-27 February, the UN Human Rights Council held its 10th regular session. This
session, which is for various reasons considered the main session of the year
was summarized and commented for FES Geneva in a background paper by Dr.
Theodor Rathgeber, Observer of the German Forum on Human Rights
http://www.fes-globalization.org/geneva/documents/HumanRights/March09_10th_HRC_Report.pdf3
3 march, 2009 Geneva | public parallel event at the 10th session of the hrc: “Human Rights Education”
During
this session of the Human Rights Council, FES Geneva, jointly with NGO
partners, organized two parallel events. On a panel on The Role of Human Rights
Defenders in Human Rights Education, the FES Geneva representative drew special
attention to the role of trade unionists as human rights defenders and of human
rights as integral part of civic education. More information on this Parallel Event
held on 3 March 2009 and the series of events on Human Rights Education it was
embedded on can be obtained through the partner organizations CIVICUS and
CONGO.
9 march, 2009 Geneva | public parallel event at the 10th session of the hrc: “Human Rights & Climate Change”
Taking
further the work which is undertaken by FES Geneva and CIEL on Climate Change
and Human Rights, a public panel discussion with three UN Mandate Holders: the
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food; the Independent Expert on Access to
Water and Sanitation and the Independent Expert on Housing explored ways to
strategically integrate human rights concerns in to the climate debate, the
so-called “Copenhagen process.”
http://www.fes-globalization.org/geneva/documents/HumanRights/9March09_Report_FES.pdf
11 march, 2009 Geneva | presentation of the scenario project on “global economic governance 2020”
The
draft scenarios of the FES Geneva scenario building on “Global Economic
Governance 2020” were presented to the Stiglitz-Commission on 11 March in
Geneva. The “Commission of Experts of the President of the United Nations
General Assembly on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial
System” held a two day meeting in Geneva, chaired by former World Bank
chief economist and Nobel Prize laureate Joseph Stiglitz. The draft scenarios
were also presented to Geneva-based personalities in separate meetings, amongst
them Faizel Ismail, Head of the South African delegation to WTO, and Heiner
Flassbeck, Director of the Division on Globalization and Development Strategies
at UNCTAD. Taking into account the feedback of these meetings the draft scenarios
have been further refined and will be published by the end of April and
presented in public events in Geneva in May, and in Brussels in September.
Further presentations are planned later this year in Mexico and Sao Paulo.
*******************************************************************************
“Human Rights
and Climate Change: Practical Steps for Implementation"
As a follow-up to an
expert meeting on Human Rights and Climate Change in January 2009, this
publication presents options how the climate change and human rights debates can
be integrated in law and practice. It lines out five alternative or mutually
enforcing suggestions that might be pursued in order to anchor human rights
concerns in policies and projects combating climate change.
http://www.fes-globalization.org/geneva/documents/HumanRights/Study_FES_CIEL_2009.pdf
“The Role of
Parliaments in the Universal Periodic Review”
This Fact Sheet by FES
Geneva reviews the Human Rights Council’s resolution which created the
UPR for the role given to national Parliaments. It concludes that this role is
astonishingly undefined and underdeveloped, lining out where Parliaments could
tap in the UPR process and what might be promising options for engagement.
http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/genf/06264.pdf
More publications are available on our webpage.
To subscribe, unsubscribe or change
your email address, send an e-mail to info@fes-geneva.org.
********************************************************************************************************************************
The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung office in
¡ Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung ¡ Director: Ms. Türkan
Karakurt / Dr. Winfried Veit ¡ 6 bis, chemin du Point-du-Jour ¡ 1202 Geneva, Switzerland ¡
¡ Tel. 0041 22 733 3450 ¡ Fax: 0041 22 733 3545 ¡ E-mail: info@fes-geneva.org
¡
www.fes-geneva.org ¡
***********************************************************************************************************************************