OFFICE OF HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS CONVENES FORUM ON STRENGTHENING HUMAN RIGHTS IN AFRICA

2 November 2001





The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is bringing together in Geneva from 5 to 7 November African leaders, policy makers and human rights experts to take part in a forum aimed at formulating practical, sustainable strategies to further strengthen human rights in the continent.

The forum --"Human Rights, the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa's Development" -- is the first in a series of dialogues being convened by OHCHR to assist it in developing its human rights strategy for Africa. The focus at this first encounter will be on using the New Partnership for African Development and the establishment of the African Union (AU) as tools for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights in Africa. Representatives of governmental and intergovernmental institutions, parliamentarians, intellectuals, civil society groups and non-governmental organizations will debate key issues together with OHCHR staff working on human rights in Africa.

The meeting will open on Monday, 5 November, with an address by Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand Ramcharan. The keynote address of the opening session will be delivered by Salim Ahmed Salim, former Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity (the predecessor of the African Union) and Chairperson of the Julius Nyerere Foundation. A report on the proceedings is expected to be adopted at the end of the session on the afternoon of 7 November.


The meetings will take place in room XXII of the Palais des Nations in Geneva. For further information on the session, please contact José Luis Díaz, +41 22 917 92 42, +41 22 917 90 04 (fax), or jdiaz.hchr@unog.ch



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