The United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) Washington Director Will Davis participated in a panel discussion organized by the Royal Netherlands Embassy and the US Commission on International Religious.

Discussion among members of the panel at the US Gongress

Director Davis was joined on the panel by the Dutch Ambassador, Renée Jones-Bos, as well as representatives from the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, and civil society organizations.

UNIC Director highlighted the UN’s work in support of religious freedom, focusing on the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, as well as the work of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN’s Human Rights Council and other UN entities.

 

«Chacun à une contribution à apporter dans la construction d’un Etat de Droit où règne la justice, l’équité», a déclaré le Coordonnateur resident du Système des Nations Unies au Sénégal, M. Bouri Victor SANHOUIDI qui s’est aussi réjoui des avancées «significatives» du Sénégal dans le cadre de la protection et la promotion des Droits de l’Homme marquées par le passage réussi du Sénégal devant l’Examen Périodique Universel (EPU) du Conseil des Nations Unies pour les Droits de l’Homme.

Le Chef de la délégation du Sénégal et défendeur du rapport était le même Maître Madické NIANG alors Garde des Sceaux, Ministre d’Etat, Ministre de la Justice.

Les messages du Secrétaire général de l’ONU et du Haut Commissaire aux Droits de l’Homme ont été respectivement lus par Messieurs Toussaint KONGO-DOUDOU, Directeur du Centre d’Information des Nations Unies (CINU) et par Mahamane CISSE-GOURO, Directeur du Bureau Régional pour l’Afrique de l’Ouest du Haut Commissariat DES Nations Unies aux Droits de l’Homme (HCDH/BRAO).

Les comédiens de la troupe «Kocc Barma» de Rufisque, Waly SECK, une vedette montante de la musique sénégalaise ainsi que les chanteuses du TNDS ont, à leurs manières, magnifié les Droits de l’Homme. Cette commemoration qui incluait aussi un panel à Thiès organisé par le CSDH sur le thème de la Journée, clôturait ainsi la «Quinzaine des Droits de l’Homme» initiée par les Agences du Système des Nations Unies au Sénégal pour marquer la célébration, au Sénégal, de la Journée des Droits de l’Homme sur le thème: «Optez pour la diversité, mettez fin à la discrimination».

La Quinzaine avait démarré, le 25 novembre 2009. Elle s’est poursuivie avec des projections de films dans la région de Dakar. Le 9 décembre 2009, le HCDH/BRAO a organisé, en partenariat avec l’Institut des Droits de l’Homme et de la Paix de l’Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar (IDHP/UCAD), le Programme commun des Nations Unies sur le VIH/SIDA (ONUSIDA), l’Organisation Internationale pour les Migrations (OIM) et le Bureau des Nations Unies pour l’Afrique de l’Ouest (UNOWA) une conférence, à l’Amphithéâtre UCAD II sur le thème: «Les Droits de l’Homme et la Non Discrimination».

Des experts, professeurs d’université, des Représentants du Corps diplomatique ainsi que de nombreux étudiants ont participé aux débats. Les 9 et 10 décembre 2009, en collaboration avec la Radio «Nostalgie FM», le CINU a organisé des émissions interactives basées sur des questions– réponses sur les Droits de l’Homme, à l’intention des jeunes auditeurs (élèves et étudiants) des régions de Dakar, de Thiès, et de Kaolack.

Participants of a panel discussion

The United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Cairo commemorated the Human Rights Day in Cairo University and the American University in Cairo (AUC) in partnership with the Middle East Association for Peace and Human Rights and the “Bennaa” project for capacity building in human rights.

The commemoration in partnership with the Faculty of Mass Communication of the University of Cairo and the Middle East Association for Peace and Human Rights took the form of a panel discussion with the students and professors, as well as newly recruited journalists graduated from the faculty.

Discussions dedicated to the role of mass media in advancing human rights culture gave way to a range of connected issues such as discrimination against women, indigenous people, migrants, minorities and Islamophobia. The representative of the Palestinian authority stressed the need for the UN’ efforts to protect indigenous people to take into consideration the situation of the Israeli-Palestinians as indigenous people struggling to preserve their right to existence on their lands as well as their cultural and religious rights.

At the American University of Cairo, the event took the form of an award giving ceremony for best media articles on human rights organized in collaboration with the UNDP project “Benaa” dedicated to capacity building in human rights in Egypt. The event witnessed an important public and media turn out as well as the presence of the EU Ambassador in Cairo, representatives of the Foreign Minister and the National Council for Human Rights and the UN Resident Coordinator.

During these events Mr. Fethi Debbabi, UNIC Cairo Officer in Charge delivered the message of the Secretary-General for the day. Emphasizing on the two key words of “diversity” and “discrimination”, Mr. Debbabi said the latter constitutes a setback for humanity and the negation of the concept of Human rights while diversity calls for embracing the wide human perspective and wealth.

The Human Rights Day was marked in the Czech Republic with a roundtable discussion and an exhibit opening in the UN House, jointly organized by the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Prague and the Czech NGO “Helsinki Committee”. 

During the discussion

The roundtable included a wide range of speakers, including Ms. Anna Sabatova, the 1998 UN Human Rights Prize laureate and former Deputy Ombudsman, the Deputy Minister of Education, representatives of the Foreign Ministry, International Organization for Migration, Amnesty International, an NGO dealing with the issue of racism and discrimination and two representatives of the media. 

The discussion was chaired by UNIC Officer in Charge and the Chairwoman of the Helsinki Committee. The main topic for the discussion was the reflection of human rights in the Czech Republic and the region of Central and Eastern Europe 20 years after the collapse of communism. One of the major issues discussed was the issue of racism and discrimination. 

After the discussion at UNIC Library, an exhibit “Don’t Look at Things Black & White, the World is Colorful“ of children’s drawings and paintings was launched at the lobby of the UN House. The exhibit is aimed at the issue of racism, discrimination and intolerance. The best three works were selected and the authors awarded during the ceremony.