Our acting Co-ED, Jade Jacobs-Wort, attended the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Advocacy Week hosted by ILGA World and COC Netherlands. This was the first in-person UPR Advocacy Week in over two years and we are excited to be a part of it.
At this Advocacy Week, we had the opportunity to attend the pre-info sessions for the upcoming UPR 41st session taking place in November 2022. All participants were required to prepare an advocacy paper which summarised our shadow report, which was submitted in March 2022. This highlighted our country contexts and provided updates since the previous UPR Cycle. This was to assist participants in identifying the key recommendations for the UPR 41st Session.
A group of 9 activists and human rights defenders, mostly from the Global South, were part of the delegation to provide expertise with engaging on Human Rights mechanisms. A training session was held on the first day on how to engage in UPR processes and how to present our advocacy papers. This was followed by a series of “speed dating” sessions, where we are able to present our most pertinent and pressing issues for which we would like to see recommendations being made directly to various Permanent Missions in Geneva.
During our time in Geneva, we met nearly 30 government representatives and Permanent Missions. The event also provided a space for government representatives and permanent missions to advise us on how to connect with embassies in-country for stronger working relationships, as well as networking opportunities with other activists and human rights defenders across sectors.
We visited the ILGA World offices and shared our UPR experiences with them in a video interview, which will soon be available on ILGA World social media platforms.
The trip was an incredible success and Iranti will continue to engage these international human rights mechanisms and partners to bring LGBTIQ+ equality to the region and the world.
We look forward and ahead to the 41st UPR session in November!