ITALIAN NGOS AND OHCHR TO FOCUS ON ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTION IN ITALY

1 December 2006

A network of Italian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) active in the field of human rights and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights will team up for a one-day workshop on 5 December to map out the necessary steps towards establishing a national human rights body in Italy.

The workshop will offer members of the Italian Government, Parliament, the academic community and civil society groups a forum for open discussions on the framework, activities, legal provisions, and best practices in the establishment of a National Human Rights Institution, in line with the accepted international standards for such entities, the Paris Principles.

Italian civil society has played an important role in raising awareness of the importance of establishing a national human rights institution in the country. Since 2003, different proposals regarding the establishment of a national human rights institution in Italy have been discussed in the country’s Parliament. NGOs participating in the workshop are gathered under the umbrella organization Comitato per la Protezione e Promozione dei Diritti Umani.


The workshop will be held at the Sala del Refettorio della Camera, via del Seminario 76, Rome, 8:30am. For further information, please contact Francesca Albanese (+41 22 917 9227, falbanese@ohchr.org), or José Luis Díaz (+41 22 917 9242, jdiaz@ohchr.org)


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For use of the information media; not an official record