OSCE Office promotes shadow reporting to protect human rights in Azerbaijan

BAKU, 14 September 2012 - Some 25 civil society activists are learning about using alternative and shadow reports in advocacy and co-operation with international human rights institutions at a three-day OSCE-supported workshop that started today. The OSCE is co-sponsoring the event with the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Women’s Participation Program of USAID implemented by Counterpart International.

“Shadow and alternative reports from civil society are an important complement to government reports to the UN and Council of Europe human rights treaty-body mechanisms which conduct regular assessments of each signatory government’s compliance with  its international legal obligations,” said Melissa Stone, the Deputy Head of the OSCE Office in Baku, in her opening speech.

Michael Greene, the USIAD/Azerbaijan Mission Director, highlighted the importance of international human rights mechanisms especially in promoting gender equality in Azerbaijan, noting that “the empowerment of women is now universally recognized as fundamental for the realization of human rights and key to the achievement of sustainable development.”

The purpose of the training programme is to assist civil society members increase their understanding of how international human rights mechanisms work in practice, and to develop their writing and reporting skills for producing high-quality reports. International and national experts will deliver presentations on various treaty-body mechanisms, including the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). UPR is a United Nations process that every five years reviews each member state’s progress on advancing human rights as a universal and indivisible rights-based legal framework. Azerbaijan’s second review is scheduled for April 2013.

This workshop is an important part of the Office’s programmatic activities within an OSCE project on strengthening civil society advocacy through international mechanisms. Throughout 2012, the OSCE Office in Baku has been working to help civil society promote human rights as a public interest concern in Azerbaijan.