The first alternative universal periodic review on youth rights in Belarus

Today RADA will present the first alternative universal periodic review (UPR) on youth rights in Belarus at the UN Human Rights Council.

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.

This mechanism ensures that all human rights issues are discussed, as well as the views of stakeholder groups.

The documents on which the reviews are based are:

• information provided by the State under review, which can take the form of a “national report”
• information contained in the reports of independent human rights experts and groups, known as the Special Procedures, human rights treaty bodies, and other UN entities
• information from other stakeholders including national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations.

UPR Pre-session provide civil society organizations with a strategic platform for advocacy to address human rights issues affecting a particular country.

The report will be presented by Lavon Marozau, the International Secretary of the Belarusian National Youth Council “RADA”.