UN Human Rights Council

On April 13th, I left work with a plan. I had a specific goal (attend the lecture on the UN Human Rights Council). As I finished work at about 5:20pm...I had time to kill. I had decided to drag Simin along for this event. So, Simin and I went for Star Bucks on 42nd and 2nd...as we only needed to get to 5th Avenue and 34th Street (the Graduate Center). 

The UN Human Rights Council talk was being sponsored / organised by the Ralph Bunche Forum. I will write more about the actual talk on my new blog (which is going to specifically be on events that I attend such as lectures). As this blog is a guide to my experience in NYC, I decided to briefly include a little piece on the event and mention my personal experiences.

To be perfectly honest, I arrived at the event with little knowledge of the UN Human Rights Council (apart from the logical conclusions...deals with H.R, is a council and is UN related) and I expected to leave the same way (I wasn't sure what to expect). Instead, I left having been given an interesting introduction (I actually learnt enough that I decided to attend the inaugural  that inspired me to read up about the council and personally evaluate what I had been told by the speakers for myself. 

Peggy Hicks (Human Rights Watch) gave an insightful presentation about the  10 things you need to know about the Human Rights Council. [On a tangent... I loved that movie too. Julia Stiles was amazing and so was Heath Ledger. I occasionally still listen to the sound track...and especially like : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SpB6F6JgQQ or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QjT3u_m3a0 ]

Peggy Hicks discussed what the council actually was, critiqued common misconceptions and concluded by mentioned that there is no viable alternative to the council and urged that those committed to Human Rights protection should work to improve it. She identified some weaknesses that are common to a lot of UN and other aspects of global governance, namely, the difference between the reality of action and words, a lack of willingness to personally engage with the situation (lead by example), a necessity for "reviewing by doing", division of power, implementation, election flaws, a need for transparency, and accountability (read actual analysis and more on her presentation on my WordPad blog).

Yvonne Terlingen ( Amnesty International) talked about the future of the UN HR Council. She mentioned the 2011 review and made her recommendations. She then provided us with her perspective on the Periodic Universal Review. She mentioned that for the first time there is now a mechanism that reviews all countries. This results in three reports (own assessment, external and what NGOs  say). This is starting to create a Human Rights database that Civil Society activists can use as a valuable resource. She discussed the potential of the Human Rights Council and the current reality. Her message was positive and full of recommendations yet she mentioned the successes of the Council so far.

It is hard not to go into more detail. I found the event to be exciting because I was learning directly from professionals who worked within the field of Human Rights about an institution that I am currently experiencing and discovering first hand.

I plan to attend many more Ralph Bunch lectures (among other events) and with that in mind...I have been inspired to create a different blog where I can be a lot more serious (lol! don't worry...you will love it) and explore my impressions, analysis, and research on the topics being discussed.

I shouldn't really mention much more or I will change my mind and this blogs focus. hahaha! However, this place is still reserved for my adventures in the city....so keep tuned :)