Ever wondered what the UPR was? Every few years, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the United Nations Human Rights Council sets about examining the human rights records of all UN Member States. Join changemakers from Pink Dot and MARUAH for an online panel discussion about the role of the UPR in Singaporean advocacy, policymaking and discourse this Friday, Nov 19, from 3pm-5pm! Proudly organised by the Yale-NUS/NUS Community for Advocacy and Political Education (CAPE)
Please click here to add a reminder to watch the review live on UN Web TV.
What is the Universal Periodic Review?
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique process which involves a review of the human rights records of all UN Member States. The UPR is a State-driven process, under the auspices of the Human Rights Council, which provides the opportunity for each State to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to fulfil their human rights obligations.
As one of the main features of the Council, the UPR is designed to ensure equal treatment for every country when their human rights situations are assessed. The ultimate aim of this mechanism is to improve the human rights situation in all countries and address human rights violations wherever they occur. Currently, no other universal mechanism of this kind exists.
Please click here for more information on the UPR.
In October 2020, MARUAH submitted its Stakeholder’s Report for the third cycle of the Universal Periodic Review focusing on civil and political rights – Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Association, Censorship, Electoral System, Justice (incl minimum working age, corporal punishment, juvenile justice system & death penalty) and Discrimination (incl LGBTQIA, equality of races, women and income inequalities/job opportunities).
We also submitted recommendations in each section based on the SMART framework and draw upon the recommendations made by Human Rights Council to Singapore, our mid-term UPR report (2018), and the past UPRs we have submitted in 2011 and 2015.
Please register at https://forms.gle/KL9dMieoWzu7P3Yb7before 11.59pm on Thursday, 1 October 2020. We will be sending the video conference link via email to all those who have registered.
This webinar will equip human rights advocates with the tools and information necessary to engage with the UPR, a unique mechanism of the United Nations Human Rights Council aimed at improving the human rights situation in UN Member States. To participate in the event, please register here.
Civil society is encouraged to submit their own assessment of the human rights record of the States under Review to the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) around 6–8 months before the review itself. The OHCHR will compile all of the civil society reports received into a single summary report. If your organization submits a well-documented and structured report, your key priorities will most likely be included in OHCHR summary report.
All human rights advocates are welcome to participate.
In light of the deadline for the submission of the Stakeholders reports for the States that will be reviewed at the 38th session (15th October 2020), we particularly encourage the attendance of civil society organizations, human rights defenders and NHRIs from Namibia, Niger, Mozambique, Estonia, Paraguay, Belgium, Denmark, Palau, Somalia, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Latvia, Sierra Leone and Singapore.
Kindly note that the webinar will take place in English, French and Spanish according to the following schedule:
In the report, UPR Info summarizes its work over the course of the year through its Pre-sessions, Stakeholders, and In-country (ICP) programmes. The report also identifies points of interest such as its engagement with a wider breadth of stakeholders, new activities, and the push by UPRInfo for stronger linkages between the UPR and SDGs. For example, UPR Info encourages greater participation of children and youth voices as equal stakeholders in the UPR process and detail its initiatives to mainstream gender in all of its work. All in all, last year UPR Info worked across forty-eight countries in its Pre-sessions and ICP workshops with states, civil society organizations, and national human rights institutions in its effort to strengthen engagement with the UPR.
UPR Info is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It aims to raise awareness of the Universal Periodic Review and to provide capacity-building tools to all stakeholders, such as UN Member States, civil society, parliamentarians, media and academics.
MARUAH is making a submission to the United Nations on the death penalty and preventive detention without trial, as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process that will review Singapore’s human rights record.
As part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process, the Coalition of Singapore NGOs (COSINGO) is making a submission to the United Nations on the human rights situation in Singapore.
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique process which involves a review of the human rights records of all 192 UN Member States once every four years. The UPR is a State-driven process, under the auspices of the Human Rights Council, which provides the opportunity for each State to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to fulfil their human rights obligations. As one of the main features of the Council, the UPR is designed to ensure equal treatment for every country when their human rights situations are assessed.
Singapore comes up for review under UPR next year. Civil Society organisations (CSOs) have been invited to submit parallel reports (known as ‘Shadow Reports’) to the government report. MARUAH is working with CSOs to put forward a combined report to the UN Human Rights Council.
MARUAH will be holding 2 sessions of public consultation on 9th October for CSOs (10am-1pm) and political parties (2-5pm) respectively.
RSVP your interest by e-mail to maruahsg@gmail.com with your name, contact details, and representative organisation (if any), so that we can reserve a seat for you.
Posted by jamestan2019 
MARUAH Singapore 
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