Advocates assemble!

tl;dr We’ve partnered with Advocacy Assembly and the Association for Progressive Communications to bring you two free online courses about the Universal Periodic Review. Introduction to the UPR and Making an Impact.

It’s often really tough for human rights advocates to know where to start when it comes to engaging with the Universal Periodic Review (or UPR, for short).

We started UPROAR because we think the UPR is an important tool civil society can use to amplify their message on the global stage, especially in restrictive countries, where there may not be any opportunity for them to raise their concerns directly with their own government and policymakers.

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But if you find the UPR process opaque and confusing, or you’re not clear about what you can achieve through it, we want you to know you’re not alone! Don’t fret, we’ve got good news. We’re here to change that!

Like all Advocacy Assembly courses, these are self-paced multimedia courses, and you receive a fancy e-certificate when you complete them!

We’ve collaborated with our good friends Advocacy Assemblyand the Association for Progressive Communications to bring you two brand new and totally free courses. So, without further ado.

Introduction to the Universal Periodic Review

This course offers a crash-course in the basics of the UPR, how it came about, what it offers, and how you can get involved.

Introduction to the Universal Periodic Review offers specific guidance on advocating for digital rights at the UPR. Through our work with UPROAR, we’ve found that some diplomats still struggle to prioritise human rights online as well as offline. This course includes some tips on making the case for digital rights in advocacy meetings, by highlighting the interplay between human rights online and offline.

The course also takes you step-by-step through the different engagement points of the UPR, whether you’re submitting evidence, engaging in advocacy, or pushing for the implementation of your state’s pledges.

By completing the course, you’ll gain a better understanding of the need to assembly and act around the UPR, and you’ll learn how to use the mechanism to push your agenda forward.

There are a handful of helpful case studies from Bangladesh, Eritrea, Chile, Cameroon and India, where you hear directly from advocates about how they’ve used the UPR to help defend the rights of marginalised and vulnerable communities, both online and offline.

The whole course only takes 50 minutes to complete, and once you’ve got the basics under control, the next course will transform you into an advocacy pro!

Making an Impact with the Universal Periodic Review

This course explains how strong UPR recommendations can encourage states to pledge themselves to specific and achievable reforms.

Converting advocacy work in Geneva into local action and political influence isn’t a straightforward task, by any means.

Making an Impact with the Universal Periodic Review explains how civil society organisations need to be empowered with influence and political leverage over their governments in order to improve human rights at home. Strong UPR recommendations can go some way towards giving CSOs this leverage.

In this course, we meet representatives from a host of global CSOs engaged with the UPR including SRI (Sexual Rights Initiative) and CIVICUS. These experts share their first-hand experience and give advice on how to make the most of your advocacy opportunities. They share different tactics to get your agenda across to diplomats and state representatives.

Carrie Shelver, the Advocacy Advisor at Sexual Rights Initiative shares her top advocacy tips

Making an Impact with the Universal Periodic Review also dives into preparing and making a submission to the UPR process, and provides some useful strategies on how to structure your stakeholder submission, and how to make your issues accessible and relevant to the diplomats who will ultimately be deciding which recommendations to present to your state when it comes under review.

Drawing on case studies about advocacy work carried out around human rights challenges in Ethiopia, Myanmar, and Senegal, the course demonstrates some crucial and effective advocacy strategies for getting recommendations made to, and accepted by, your country’s government.

All of these great examples and strategies are packed into a single hour, so what are you waiting for? Sign up and become a UPR advocacy pro today! Making an impact with the Universal Periodic Review

This course teaches you the different tactics you can use to get your agenda across and make change happen. You’ll hear top tips and tricks from experienced advocates who have taken part in the Universal Periodic Review. Through in-depth interview case studies you’ll also learn how to write summary reports and engage with in-country and Geneva-based diplomats.

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Both courses are presented by Gayatri Khandadhai, a lawyer with many years of experience in international human rights law. She specialises in the protection of digital rights in Asia, with a specific focus on freedom of religion, expression, assembly, and association on the Internet. She is the Asia Policy Regional Coordinator at the Association for Progressive Communications (APC).

So let’s get going! Sign-up for these free courses today on Advocacy Assembly, and drop our team a line at [email protected] to find out how we can support you to supercharge your policy efforts!