The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean in collaboration with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) will be organising the First Human Rights Induction Seminar for Parliamentarians of the Mediterranean Region, which will be held on 18 – 19 June 2015, at the OHCHR Motta Building, Geneva, Switzerland. It is also the first time that the UN holds a training programme for parliamentarians.
Following the adoption of a Report at the 9th Plenary Session in Monaco, PAM member parliaments decided to set up a “Rapid Deployment Capacity” with a team of parliamentarians who would be deployed to conflict areas. The team members would be selected among a pool of MPs and depending on the context, and would be travelling, often on short notice, to hot spots to exercise soft diplomacy and use confidence building measures to support humanitarian operations, promote protection of civilians and advocate for the respect of human rights.
The aim of the seminar is to familiarise PAM parliamentarians with human rights issues and related mechanisms; increasing their knowledge on the notion of protection of civilians, as well as providing tools to collect information, interview victims, report their findings and address human rights issues in the field. OHCHR is also facilitating a visit to OCHA in order for the MPs to receive basic information related to humanitarian coordination.
The participating parliamentarians will be addressed by UN and high level experts from OCHA, the Chief of the Human Rights Council Mr Eric Tistounet, and the Exectuive Director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, Mr. David Harland. The MPs will be also meeting the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.
This is the first step in view of a structured cooperation programme with the UN on training MPs, and will serve as a model for future initiatives in various sectors where MPs can play an important role in the implementation and support of international processes for peace and stability in the region.