About CNDH work regarding the promotion of human rights

1. Two Partnership Conventions A. A partnership convention with the Ministry of National Education, Higher Education, Scientific Research and Executive Training On the occasion of the 57th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Advisory Council on Human Rights (CCDH) and the Ministry of National Education, Higher Education, Scientific Research and Executive Training concluded, on December 7, 2005, a cooperation and partnership convention in order to promote the human rights culture in the educational institutions. This framework convention aims to promote human rights in their pedagogic and cultural dimensions in the educational institutions, to mobilize and to make use of the CCDH and the Ministry’s available resources to implement the planned projects and the common programmes, aiming at the implementation of the provisions of this convention. The conclusion of this convention is an expression of an awareness shared by the two parties. The promotion of the human rights culture is a joint responsibility of many players. The goal is to make such rights a daily reality translated by the behaviour and practice of institutions, individuals and groups. Thinking of the institutionalisation of this cooperation originated in the missions of the two parties, taking into account the favourable general context, including the political and societal orientations of the country. B. A partnership convention with the Ministry of Interior The CCDH and the Ministry of Interior agreed to cooperate in the field of the human rights education by training professionals in the training institutions affiliated to the Ministry of Interior. To that end, the two parties signed a framework partnership and cooperation convention on the promotion of the human rights culture, on May 19, 2006 at the Institut Royal de Police (royal police institute). In implementation of the provisions of this convention, a joint committee was set up to oversee, follow up and assess. At the beginning of its proceedings, this committee elaborated the standards of its work, structure, missions and periodicity of its meetings. In addition, it laid out the guiding concepts to undertake a diagnosis and a preliminary assessment of the experience accumulated by the training institutions affiliated to the Ministry of Interior in the field of training and in-service training in human rights. The goal is to devise a programme, which takes into account the experience accumulated in the field and develop it in such a way as to meet the goals set out in the convention. By concluding such kind of conventions, the CCDH seeks to reinforce all the former and current initiatives aiming at education, awareness-raising and training in the field of human rights, including the process of elaborating and implementing the national plan of action for promoting the human rights culture. This process is based on the synergy and coordination of the efforts made by governmental and non-governmental players in order to promote a human rights culture linking knowledge to practice. 2. Elaboration of a National Plan of Action for Promoting the Human Rights Culture At the initiative of the CCDH, there was the idea of getting involved in a process providing our country with a platform of action for promoting the human rights culture in partnership with national institutions, governmental partners and civil society organization. A. Steps of the elaboration process Here follows the steps taken in the elaboration process of the national plan of action for promoting the human rights culture: - Undertaking an assessment study on the initiatives launched in our country to disseminate the human rights culture over the last decade; - Holding consultation workshops with the main players in the field (governmental departments and civil society organizations), resulting in the necessity to highlight the main sector-based needs, to set the main priorities of the plan and to make proposals in the short, medium and long terms, in the three fields of promoting the human rights culture (education, training of professionals and awareness-raising); B. Forming the independent Oversight and Follow-up Committee The independent Oversight and Follow-up Committee was composed of all the players concerned. The means of follow-up and assessment were defined. To facilitate the mission of the Committee and ensure its effectiveness, the following steps were taken: - Providing technical and financial assistance to the Committee by the CCDH; - Ensuring a budget for the sector-based plans, of which the departments and institutions concerned take charge. After the elaboration of the plan, known later as the citizen platform for promoting the human rights culture, the Committee programmed and undertook the process of submitting it to the governmental and non governmental parties concerned, and political actors to drum up political, moral and financial support and set the stage for making it a national project, in which everybody is involved. Thus, the advocacy started before the declaration of the citizen platform. The goal was to ensure its implementation through: - Informing the political and civil society of the project in the process of its achievement to submit it as a national project; - Drumming up support of these parties to make the scene set for the implementation of the citizen platform at the institutional, political, legal and financial levels. There was a media coverage of the three thematic workshops on education, awareness-raising and training of professionals on October 2006, and of the advocacy process which included 15 meetings with political and union bodies in November, December 2006 and January 2007. Also, three other meetings were held. The first was with experts and academics, the second with the press and media professionals and the third with artists and intellectuals, to highlight their role in the promotion of the human rights culture. C. Adoption and ratification of the citizen platform The content of the platform was presented at a workshop organized on December 20, 2006. The workshop saw the participation of the actors who took part in the elaboration process. Proposals concerning the guarantees of implementing the provisions of the platform, the mechanism which will be in charge of its implementation and the appropriate legal set-up for it were underlined. Here follows some proposals: - In a government statement, the government declared that it was committed to implement the plan and earmark a budget for it; - The Oversight and Follow-up Committee continues to take charge of the plan until an institutional mechanism for the implementation of the plan is created. Representatives of ministerial departments, national institutions and civil society organizations expressed their full support for and commitment to the plan, and said that they were ready to implement its provisions. In addition, the Prime Ministry reaffirmed that it enhanced the plan and that the government was ready to set the scene for bringing the plan to fruition. D. Submitting the platform to the Prime Minister In the presence of the Minister of Communication, the Secretary of State Charged with the Youth, the CCDH Secretary General, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice and the Secretary General of National Education, the Prime Minister received, on February 13, 2007, the Oversight Committee to examine the official declaration of the plan and its adoption by the government and to ensure guarantees for its implementation. The Prime Minister said that the government was committed to the plan and ready to provide the human and financial resources for its implementation, stressing that the methodology adopted by the Oversight Committee in elaborating the plan was an exemplary model for the multilateral partnership. In the same vein, the CCDH Secretary General said that the CCDH would continue to follow-up the process, praising the efforts made by all parties to elaborate and adopt the plan. E. Official declaration of the citizen platform The citizen platform for promoting the human rights culture was officially declared on February 26, 2007 in Rabat, in the presence of Prime Minister Driss Jettou, and the CCDH President, the late Driss Benzekri. The importance of this plan in entrenching the human rights culture in the Moroccan society and the mobilization of all the components of society to implement its provisions were highlighted. The official declaration was followed by a press conference, which saw the participation of the CCDH President, the Committee’s coordinator, the Spokesman of the government and a representative of the Committee. F. Following up and defining the steps and mechanisms of the implementation of the plan The Oversight Committee held a meeting to define the steps and mechanisms for the implementation of the citizen platform. After the assessment of the meeting on the official declaration, it was decided to think of the appropriate institutional mechanisms for the implementation of the plan, by seeking the help of the required expertise and announcing an invitation to tender in this regard. Within this context, The CCDH was committed to oversee this expertise and to ensure: - The translation and publication of the platform in Arabic and French; - Undertaking an assessment of the elaboration process; - The implementation of the provisions of the citizen platform falling within the remit of the CCDH.