Simulation Exercise on Human Rights Council on Human Rights Day

Organization for Defending Victims of Violence (ODVV) with cooperation of UN Information Centre (UNIC) and United Nations Association (UNA) held a simulation of United Nations Human Rights Council on Human Rights Day 10 December 2017 at the ODVV Conference Room with participation of some 40 post graduates of international law, international relations, human rights, political science and political sociology, AVA Diplomatic reports.

In a training session on 21 November the participants learnt more about Human Rights Council as an inter-governmental body within the UN system as well as the Special Procedures and the Special Rapporteurs. They also had practiced how to write and deliver the statements of the Member States, NGOs and UN Agencies representatives in the Human Rights Council.

During the two sessions of the Model UN, the students played roles of representatives of Cuba, Islamic Republic of Iran, People’s Republic of China, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia and the United States as well as the representatives of UNESCO and European Union and NGOs such as the Amnesty International and ODVV.  They delivered their statements and responded to the reports of two Human Rights Council Special Rapporteurs on the unilateral coercive measures and the minority issues. They had general debate and used their right to reply. The session was chaired by the Managing Director of ODVV Dr. Mahmoud Reza Golshan Pajouh who had participated in different sessions of the Human Rights Council in Geneva as ODVV representative.

At the inauguration of the MUN, Dr. Golshan Pajouh welcomed the participants. UNIC Reference Assistant Ms. Nazanin Ghaemmaghami after an introduction about Human Rights Day, read the UN Secretary-General’s message on the Day. The video message of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mr. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein as well as two videos on Universal Declaration of Human Rights were screened.  These videos were translated and subtitled by UNIC inters. Some webcasts of the Human Rights Council sessions were also screened.

“I have learned more about UN and how Human Rights Council functions.  These experiences are useful for my studies and motivate me to continue my research on participation of the civil society in the Council,” said Farzaneh Mostofi ODVV member and Ph.D. student of international relations from the Islamic Azad University.

In the closing session, Head of the Centre for International Research and Education of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and President of the Iranian Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS) Dr. Seyed Mohammad Kazem Sajjadpour after his remarks, thanked the organizers and the participants for holding a very fruitful educational programme.