(Freetown, Sierra Leone – 5 August 2013) – From 5 to 7 August, the International Service for Human Rights, together with the National Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone and the National Human Rights Defenders Network of Sierra Leone, is holding a workshop on the implementation of recommendations made during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) related to women’s and sexual rights.

(Freetown, Sierra Leone – 5 August 2013) – From 5 to 7 August, the International Service for Human Rights, together with the National Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone and the National Human Rights Defenders Network of Sierra Leone, is holding a workshop on the implementation of recommendations made during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) related to women’s and sexual rights.

Representatives from the Ministries of Justice of Guinea and Sierra Leone, the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights of Cote d’Ivoire, and the Ministry of Gender in Liberia, will come together with members of national human rights institutions and NGOs from the Mano River region to discuss successes and challenges in implementing recommendations made during the first cycle of the UPR. With second cycle reviews for countries of this region running from 2014 to 2016, the workshop will also encourage and equip stakeholders to work constructively together to advance women’s and sexual rights.

The workshop’s focus on using the UPR to advance women’s and sexual rights responds to the fact that these rights are frequently violated, and that UPR recommendations made to prevent or redress such violations are frequently rejected.

The UPR emphasizes the importance of the role played by different stakeholders, and formalises their different but complementary engagement in the process. The need for dialogue and collaboration between States and civil society is frequently emphasised as key to the success of the UPR, and this workshop aims at strengthening these connections. Facilitating conversations between States and civil society on women’s rights will allow stakeholders to define concrete steps to press for implementation of recommendations, and demand greater and more effective action on the part of States.

This workshop is part of a three year ISHR project in the Mano River region (which takes in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire), which focuses on building effective relationships between key stakeholders in the UPR process, with the aim of effecting positive human rights change at national level. The project particularly seeks to engage women human rights defenders – who include women working on the full spectrum of human rights, and all people working on women’s and sexual rights – in light of their historic lack of representation within the international human rights system.

ISHR is delighted to be collaborating with the Sierra Leone National Human Rights Commission and the National Human Rights Defenders Network for this workshop. ISHR also greatly appreciates the financial support provided by Irish Aid and Bread for the World for this project and other crucial activities.

Contact: Eleanor Openshaw, Program Manager ISHR, on + 41 789 442 552 or [email protected]