12-15-2008

The eighth annual International Human Rights Colloquium, which took place from 08 to 15 November 2008, in São Paulo, Brazil, had as its central theme the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Including observers, speakers and participants, approximately 80 individuals participated from more than 30 countries of the Global South.

Participants, observers, Conectas staff and volunteers

The 54 participants of the Colloquium – 29 women and 25 men (click here to see the list) - with an average age of 29, came together for a week of capacity-building through lectures and readings, as these activists shared their experiences as human rights defenders with one another. The pie chart attached shows the regions of origin of the participants. The Colloquium is conceived and organized annually by Conectas Human Rights, with the purpose of strengthening the individual and collective impact of human rights activists in Latin America, Africa and Asia, and to encourage them to take on a growing role in the promotion of human rights in their countries and in international organizations.          

Highlights           

The Colloquium began on Sunday with cultural activities and debate groups. These activities took place at Casa das Caldeiras, a historical building in São Paulo recently converted into a cultural centre. This event was made possible by the collaboration of freeDimensional (http://www.freedimensional.org/), NGO dedicated to organize community arts space and local resources for the support and protection of individuals who create dialogue on global issues and inequalities through their art and media.

Furthermore, the opening session also included the participation of three former Brazilian Ministers of Human Rights: Paulo Vannuchi, Minister of the federal Human Rights Secretariat; Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, former Minister and current member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; and José Gregory, former Minister and current President of the Human Rights Commission in São Paulo. Roxana Vasquez, founder of the Latin American and Carribean Committee for the Defense of Women's Rights and Oscar Vilhena Vieira, professor at Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV) and Legal Director of Conectas Human Rights, also brought new perspectives on the implementation of human rights norms as recognized by the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights.    

The event also featured a lecture by one of the pre-eminent international specialists in human rights, Henry Steiner, professor at Harvard Law School, who spoke about the human rights implications of the election of Barack Obama as the next American president.            

During the rest of the week, other human rights specialists and authorities participated in the morning lectures, discussing a wide range of themes regarding the UN Declaration and the human rights situation in the Global South. Click here to see the program and the list of speakers.

             

Simulation of a session of the UN Human Rights Council

           

Peer learning

In the afternoon on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the participants split into  two working groups linked to two areas in which Conectas pursues its human rights objectives: human rights litigation and UN human rights mechanisms. Regarding the latter, there was a simulation of a session of the UN Human Rights Council on Zimbabwe, during which the participants were able to role-play as States, special agencies and NGOs.

On Tuesday, the activity was the Open Space Forum, where the participants were allowed to choose which themes they wanted to discuss. On Thursday, they were divided into four groups to visit four local NGOs: Educative Action, Catholics Supporting the Right to Choose, the Center for the Defense of the Rights of Children and Adolescents of Interlagos, and the Landless Movement (MST).

The eighth annual International Human Rights Colloquium was made possible by the generous support of the Open Society Institute(OSI), the Brazilian Embassy of Germany, OSISA (the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa), the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF), the Brazilian Embassy of Canada, the United Nations Foundation, the Ford Foundation and Ashoka Social Entrepreneurs. We also would like to thank the Law School of FGV, which generously provided the space and support staff for the morning lectures.

Click here to see the slideshow with more pictures of the Colloquium

International Human Rights System

Some of the participants, observers and speakers of the Colloquium arrived earlier in São Paulo, in order to attend the Second Strategic Meeting on NGO Participation in the UN Human Rights System, also promoted by Conectas. This meeting, which took place November 7-8, has the goal of promoting and stimulating the cooperation between human rights defenders of Africa, Asia and Latin America in their use of the international human rights system, especially the Universal Periodic Review Mechanism, of the UN Human Rights Council. It was promoted in collaboration with the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) and supported by OSI, the Ford Foundation and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.                   

Statements

“Thank you for hosting us in Sao Paulo and for the space you have continuallly offered for the South to South Dialogue.I really benefited and I look forward to working with you to ensure that we keep this discourse alive"
                  Emmah Wamai – Kenia - participant

                “The goal of stimulating South-South networks was accomplished, in spades"
                Andréa Ivanna Dejten – Uruguay - participant

“The colloquium experience was great for me both personally and professionally. I have carried back here a lot of new ideas with me and I plan to implement them in the coming months"

  Iniyan Ilango – India - participant

“Many thanks for the opportunity to participate in the colloquium last week. I found the meeting to be extremely informative and thought provoking. I am also sure that I made some connections with  some of the participants that will be enduring"
  Dabney Evans – USA - observer