Stronger civil society input to UPR in Jordan
“The government welcomes the participation of national and civil society institutions in preparing the third Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report”, Government Coordinator for Human Rights, Basel Al-Tarawneh, said in the beginning of February 2018.
On 15 – 19 February The Government Coordinator for Human Rights at the Office of the Prime Minister and the Danish Institute for Human Rights will host public consultations with Jordanian Women and Youth organisations in Jordan. The Government Coordinator will get their inputs to the upcoming national report to the UN Human Rights Committee as part of the Universal Periodic Review to Jordan.
“I have worked with human rights for many years in Jordan and it is the first time that the government engages so much in dialogue with civil society and the Jordanian National Centre for Human Rights. And it is very much because of the DIHR efforts in the country,” Nisreem S. Zerikat, who are acting protecting commissioner at the Jordanian National Centre for Human Rights, told.
“A close dialogue with the civil society, journalists and academia is important for the overall improvement of the human rights reporting”, said MENA Programme Manager Karina Pultz.
DIHR in Jordan
In 2014 a government coordinator for human rights, Basel Al-Tarawneh, was appointed in Jordan. The appointment of a coordinator for human rights is a step towards organizing government efforts within the field of human rights. DIHR has built a good relationship with Basel. The coordinator’s mandate includes writing national reports to UN bodies, coordinating work with human rights officers in national institutions and to follow up on implementing national action plans. The coordinator is expected to enhance cooperation with the Jordanian National Centre for Human Rights (JNCHR) and similar entities, and follow up on reports issued by such institutions.
JNCHR, an independent state institutions,is also a partner of DIHR. JNHCR has a monitoring and complaints handling unit, responsible for receiving complaints, requests for legal assistance, appeals and statements of opinion related to human rights. Furthermore, JNHCR has a legal mandate to monitor the human rights status in Jordan.