The National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) will organise, in co-operation with the Arab League and the Doha- based Arab Network For Human rights Institutions (ANHRIs), a regional conference on “UNHCHR’s Role in The Promotion And Protection Of Human Rights in The Arab Region.”
The two-day event, being held under the patronage of HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani, will take place in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on Wednesday and Thursday.
The conference aims at defining the extent of the international system of human rights’ response including its technical and organisational components for the promotion and respect of human rights in the Arab region.
It will also review the approaches of relevant United Nations systems of human rights, especially the role of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of the current situation in the Arab region and how to develop mechanisms of the bodies according to the United Nations agreements.
A particular objective of the conference as well is to review co-operation between the Arab countries and the United Nations human rights mechanisms, exchange lessons learned and good practices in this regard, as well as discuss and find a common understanding on some human rights priorities in the region, including freedom of expression and association and education in the field of human rights.
The event will also address the fundamental problems of human rights in the region in the context of wars and conflicts, as well as support the UNHCHR’s efforts to protect and promote human rights in the Arab region.
The conference will serve as a platform for interactive dialogue about the roles, achievements and progress, best practices and expectations of the various stakeholders in relation to the promotion and protection of human rights in the Arab region. It will also offer the opportunity to discuss the UNHCHR’s plans in the region and push forward structural reforms within it, which were announced by the High Commissioner for Human Rights in his first speech to the Human Rights Council last year.
It also provides a platform to look at many issues, including the Arab member states’ co-operation with the United Nations human rights system and UNHCHR, the status of ratification of the core human rights treaties and means of participation with the UN human rights mechanisms including the established bodies under the treaties and procedures for the implementation of the UPR recommendations.
A number of workshops will take place during the event mainly on the UNHCHR’s response in the Arab region in particular through the UN mechanisms for protection of human rights in addition to a workshop on “The Problems Facing Human Rights in The Region and The Aspirations Of National Human Rights Institutions on UNHCHR’s Role.”
The conference, the first of its kind in the region, will bring together about 200 Arab and international human rights organisations and more than 40 high-level officials in the human rights field and the regional offices in Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Geneva along with 17 Arab foreign ministries and human rights offices, human rights and legal committees in parliaments and consultative councils in the Arab region, NOGs, the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), the Arab League and a number of Arab and international personalities headed by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.
  The convening of this important event in Doha underlines the international confidence in Qatar and its role in promoting human rights system on the national, regional and global levels.