In the framework of its parliamentary capacity-building and human rights protection and promotion activities, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) has launched a project that aims to strengthen the capacity of parliaments in French-speaking Africa to enable them to better play their role of guardians of human rights. It is against this backdrop that the IPU and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in collaboration with the National Assembly of Burkina Faso, will be organizing a regional seminar in Ouagadougou.

Open to members of parliament and parliamentary staff, the Seminar, which will be held at the "Ouaga 2000" Conference Centre from 1 to 3 October 2007, is intended to provide general information on United Nations treaty bodies and the role that parliaments can play in the application of their recommendations. Focus will also be placed on the how the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights functions.

Over three days experts will make presentations on The Role of Parliaments in the Application of International and Regional Human Rights Instruments.

This Seminar comes in a new African context marked by the development of multiparty politics and greater oversight of executive action by parliamentary bodies, civil society and NGOs. Moreover, this context is characterized by the need for synergy among the various stakeholders involved in the protection and promotion of human rights.

The countries involved in the project are: Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Cap-Vert, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea (Conakry), Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal and Togo.

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Established in 1889 and with its Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the IPU, the oldest multilateral political organisation, currently brings together 147 affiliated parliaments and seven regional assemblies as associate members. The world organisation of parliaments has an Office in New York, which acts as its Permanent Observer at the United Nations.
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Contact for additional information or interviews:

Mrs. Luisa Ballin, IPU Information Officer 5, ch. du Pommier, CH - 1218 Le Grand-Saconnex / Geneva Phone: +41 22 919 41 16 Fax: +41 22 919 41 60 E-mail: lb@mail.ipu.org or cbl@mail.ipu.org Ms. Ingeborg Schwarz, Manager, IPU Human Rights Programme Phone : +41 22 919 41 42 E-mail: is@mail.ipu.org et Mr. Rogier Huizenga, Programme Officer Phone : +41 22 919 41 24 E-mail: rh@mail.ipu.org A Ouagadougou Mr. Akiyo H.-M. Afonda, Project Officer, Human Rights in French-speaking Africa Phone : +226 50 31 46 85 E-mail: aa@mail.ipu.org