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Summary: Further to a civil society meeting in April this year, NGOs release the Seoul Statement on treaty body strengthening. The statement is open for endorsement.
Background In 2009, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms Navanethem Pillay, appealed to States Parties to human rights treaties, Treaty Body members and other stakeholders, such as civil society organisations and National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs), to reflect on proposals which would enable the Treaty Body system to be more coherent, coordinated and effective. This led to a series of consultations, each of which adopted an outcome statement, as well as to the Joint Response in November 2010 by 20 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to the Dublin Statement on the Process of Strengthening the United Nations Human Rights Treaty Body System. Seoul Consultation On 19 and 20 April 2011, a meeting co-hosted by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea and the Korea Foundation brought together a group of international and national NGOs. Four treaty body members and OHCHR respresentatives also attended as observers. Seoul Statement The NGOs present at the meeting adopted the Seoul Statement, which builds on the joint NGO response to the Dublin Statement and is open to endorsement by other NGOs who were not present at the meeting (see details below). It is hoped that this statement will also serve as a useful basis for discussion at the second Civil Society Consultation in this process, which is scheduled to take place in Pretoria, South Africa, on 20 and 21 June 2011. The Seoul Statement is open for endorsement by NGOs who didn't attend the meeting.
Open for futher NGO endorsement
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