Coalition and Cooperation with Other Stakeholders

Cooperation is often underpinned by personal relationships built up and sustained over time. Over the course of the UPR it has proved vital for civil society to identify key parliamentarians and actors of change within the administration to use as entry points to ministries in charge of implementing UPR recommendations.

Nepal

The Informal Sector Service Center for Human Rights and Social Justice (INSEC) is appealing to parliamentarians and the Parliamentary Human Rights Com-mittee to be more attentive on the UPR and to bring up UPR recommendations for discussion in parliament. INSEC also provides parliamentarians with documentation on the UPR and the role of the parliament in promoting implementation of recommen-dations. INSEC deems that their advocacy has been successful and that parliamentar-ians are increasingly sensitive to human right issues. It is clear that there is space for involvement of parliamentarians in the UPR and civil society needs to strengthen its cooperation with parliamentarians as they are in an ideal position to keep the UPR on the agenda of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of the state throughout the full UPR cycle.

While it is generally appreciated that the UPR has contributed to strengthening relations between civil society and governments, each state is characterised by its unique dynamic in terms of cooperation between UPR stakeholders. The spectrum ranges from joint UPR implementation plans, to non-existing communications between civil society and the government. Govern ments across the globe are not always willing to engage with civil

society on certain human rights issues however the UPR mechanism continues to call on States to engage in dialogue with civil society and NHRIs can play a key role in facilitating this dialogue.

Their independent assessment of the human rights situation in the state is invaluable to the functioning of the mechanism.

CIVIL SOCIETY COALITIONS AT THE UPR

Uganda CSO Engagement Workshop Press Conference, 2016.

THE CIVIL SOCIETY COMPENDIUM

India

During the window between the first and second UPR cycle, the Government of India, and in particular the Ministry of External Affairs, was open to collaboration with civil society and the NHRIs. This space was seized by the Working Group on Human Rights in India and the UN (WGHR) CSO coalition to, for the first time, bring together India’s nine NHRIs which resulted in the WGHR and the NHRIs creating separate monitoring tools to track implementation of UPR recommendations.

2. Advocacy and Implementation

Niche, new, underrepresented or emerging human rights issues can be hard to raise in the UPR due to RS’s preferred and traditional issues. It is however noteworthy that, by invoking a comprehensive advocacy strategy, CSO coalitions have succeeded in raising underrepresented issues in the UPR.

Benin

Together with national partner organisations, the Franciscans International utilised the UPR, the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Human Rights Committee (HRC) to address the infanticide in Benin. In Benin’s first UPR, the Holy See made a recommendation on the issue, which was accepted. In 2010, Franciscans International travelled to Benin to organise a roundtable with UN agencies, the European Union, CSOs, and the Government to raise awareness on the issue, and highlight the recommendation. This event triggered a host of awareness raising activities by Franciscans International’s local partners. Ahead of Benin’s second UPR in 2012, Franciscans International shifted focus from awareness raising to advocating for legislative measures such as criminalising ritual killings of so-called ‘witch children’

in the penal code. Franciscans International, on behalf of national CSOs advocated for action oriented recommendations and Benin received 14 recommendations related to ritual infanticide of children accused of witchcraft.

Mongolia

As part of the advocacy on the human rights of small-scale miners, members of the MHRN Forum utilised the UPR Info Pre-session to inform the diplomatic community in Geneva about the issue. During the second UPR of Mongolia in 2015, Hungary and Switzerland made specific recommendations on the topic which were accepted by the Government. As a follow-up, members of the MHRN Forum reiterated the need for implementation of these recommendations at a roundtable discussion with the donor and diplomatic community in Ulaan Bator. The MHRN was the first CSO UPR Coalition

to develop Advocacy Factsheets (as discussed in Part 3) and therefore provide up to date information on human rights issues and report on implementation of recommendations in easily digestible and accessible factsheets, broken down thematically.

Sustainability 1. Structure

The degree to which CSO coalitions are formalised varies significantly and is often linked to funding and political considerations. The choice to register a coalition often depends on the national context and domestic legislation. In some case there are benefits to registering a legal entity and in other context the

process can have far less of an impact. Of the CSOs and coalitions that UPR Info has worked with the organisations have benefited more from their internal structuring, rather than their formal or informal registration.

A. Secretariat

A secretariat for the CSO UPR coalition ensures the group develops an institutional memory, and maintains effective professional standards such as; periodic meeting and event coordination; minute taking and circulation; and rotating locations to facilitate engagement from dispersed partners.

Nepal

The National Coalition for the UPR employs INSEC as its permanent secretariat to coordinate the coalition and support the work of the members through training programmes, having provided training on gender-sensitive budgeting, and outreach programmes, when engaging with parliamentarians. INSEC works to coordinate the coalition’s UPR activities, with those of other implementation partners, to strengthen cooperation with the Government and therefore implementation.

CIVIL SOCIETY COALITIONS AT THE UPR

Mongolia Factsheet created by Human Rights NGO Forum to the UN, 2014.

THE CIVIL SOCIETY COMPENDIUM

Mongolia

The MHRN Forum has not registered their coalition but established, in 2015, a structure in which the secretarial duties rotate among members on a monthly basis. This includes coordinating UPR activities, and managing the intra-coa-lition communications.