The Role of Civil Society in the Promotion and Protection of International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law: Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting I
When
Where
Organized by
The general purpose is to discuss key substantive concerns raised at the previous Human Dimension Meetings regarding the implementation of OSCE human dimension commitments on selected topics and to ensure follow-up for them. The meeting also provides a platform for an exchange of views among OSCE participating States, OSCE institutions, other executive structures and international organizations, civil society, and other interested stakeholders.
Topic
The first Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting of 2024 will provide a forum to discuss the role of civil society in promoting and protecting international human rights law (IHRL) and international humanitarian law (IHL).
The first session will focus on the essential role of civil society organizations (CSOs) and human rights defenders (HRDs) in monitoring IHRL and IHL, emphasizing their importance particularly in times of conflict and humanitarian crisis to document violations and help towards ensuring accountability.
While acknowledging that states have primary responsibility to protect human rights and remedy human rights violations, the second session will address the role of CSOs and HRDs in the promotion and protection of IHRL and IHL rights in times of conflict and humanitarian crisis.
The third session will address the significant threats faced by HRDs in the OSCE region, focusing on the impact of these challenges on both their security and ability to carry out their work effectively. The session will also consider the growing number of HRDs being forced into exile, underlining the importance of international support for them to continue their work abroad.
Participants
Representatives of the 57 OSCE participating States and OSCE institutions and structures, will be joined by representatives of international organizations, civil society organizations, media and other stakeholders. The Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting is open to those with relevant experience in the human dimension from the OSCE region. The Partners for Co-operation are invited to attend and contribute with respect to their co-operation and links with the OSCE in the field.
This meeting will be held in person only. In order to attend, participants need to register in advance before the deadline indicated below.
Registration
Online registration for the conference is currently open at https://meetings.odihr.pl and will close on Thursday, 11 April, at 12:00 (noon) CET.
It is advisable to register well in advance. To facilitate the timely processing of registrations, it is important that user account information on https://meetings.odihr.pl is both complete and up to date.
To assist with registration, a user guide is available in English and Russian.
Modalities
The modalities of the meeting are set out in the decision of the Permanent Council (PC.DEC/476, 23 May 2002).
Interpretation will be provided into the six official OSCE languages: English, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish.
Side events
Registered participants are welcome to request a side event slot at https://meetings.odihr.pl between 4 April at 13.00 CET and 9 April at 13.00 CET. To assist participants in requesting a slot, a user guide is available in the resources section.
Contact
Meeting co-ordination: Mr. Martin Toplišek, Human Dimension Meetings Officer (Martin.Toplisek@odihr.pl).
Programme enquiries: Mr. Andrew Gardner, Deputy Head of Human Rights Department, Andrew.Gardner@odihr.pl) and Ms. Julia Gebhard, Deputy Head of Democratization Department (Julia.Gebhard@odihr.pl).
Registration, side events and other enquiries: hdmeetings@odihr.pl.
More information about the event and participation will be published on this webpage.