UN organizes workshop for Iraq human rights defenders

With 4,000 new non-governmental and civil society organizations (NGOs) mushrooming in Iraq after the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s one-party rule, the United Nations is holding a three-day workshop for some 30 Iraqi human rights defenders in Amman, capital of neighbouring Jordan.

The workshop, from 27 to 29 June, seeks to strengthen the capacity of NGOs for advocacy work and human rights promotion at the national, regional and international levels, help to develop strategies for past, current and future human rights violations, and build a network for sharing information and developing collaboration.

Since the terrorist attack against UN headquarters in Baghdad in August 2003, the UN has centred much of its activities for Iraq in Amman. The workshop is being organized by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), and the Human Rights Office and the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS).

Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders Hina Jilani opened the workshop.