Human Rights Advocacy Initiative Coalition Building Meeting and Workshop

July 2010

On July 13th HRAI coalition members held their 7th coalition building meeting in Suleimaniyya-Iraq. During the meeting, the 20 participants discussed futures activities including the media campaign about the UN human rights council recommendations to Iraq, the shadow reports on CEDAW and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the report on Iraq’s legal status regarding the Optional Protocols to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention Against Torture, and the Convention on the Protection of all Persons from enforced Disappearance.

Following the coalition building meeting, IF held a workshop on the”Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women” (CEDAW) shadow report writing, from July 14-16. The workshop was facilitated by the Association Libanaise pour l’Education et la Formation (ALEF) and covered: the Iraqi state’s legal bind to meet its obligations as stipulated in the Convention, an analysis of Iraq’s compliance with the convention, the most important challenges that prevent Iraq from complying with the convention, and the technical aspects of the shadow report writing. Participants were very active and engaged.