UNAMI Human Rights Office Training for Civil Society Organizations in Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Erbil/Sulaymaniyah, 19 October 2017 - UNAMI Human Rights Office conducted on 16-19 October a specialized training and round table discussion in Kurdistan Region of Iraq on “Follow up on Universal Periodic Review in Line with the Regional Plan of Action (RPA) and UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies Recommendations” for representatives of civil society organizations.

The training course was held in Sulaymaniyah, and is a part of a series of activities that UNAMI Human Rights Office provides in order to support regional institutions and civil society actors in protecting, promoting, and fulfilling human rights in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.



The training course focused on deepening participants’ understanding of key mechanisms, principles and legal frameworks, in particular with regard to the process of Universal Periodic Review (UPR), UPR’s recommendations, Treaty Bodies (ratified by the state) recommendations, creation of UPR follow-up/monitoring body and development of an implementation action plan by a government, and the role of civil society organizations in the process, including shadow reports. The training sessions are provided by UNAMI human rights professionals.



Mr. Teli Salih, the program manager at Sewan for Women Empowerment Organization from Duhok, stated that for the majority of the participants this was the first opportunity to participate in a specialized training on UPR and Treaty Bodies and that NGOs will benefit from the training through increasing its relevant capacities. Ms. Payman Adham, from Raha Organization in Erbil, stated that the training is “very important because our knowledge is limited and we are not fully aware about the UPR and Treaty Bodies process and how we can engage in them and how to interact within them - our skills will be improved and our engagement and the quality of reports will be improved as well”. Representatives of 29 organizations participated in the training course, 15 female and 14 male.