Activity : Second Regional Meeting on the Process of Drawing up the PANDDH in Morocco Venue : Agadir

Activity : Consultation Regional Meeting on the Process of Drawing up the PANDDH in Morocco Venue : Marrakech

Venue : Rabat

The Francophone Association for National Human Rights Commissions (AFCNDH) organizes, in collaboration with the Moroccan Advisory Council on Human Rights (CCDH) and with the support of the International Organization of the Francophony (OIF), the first seminar on corporate social responsibility, on February 28-29 and March 1st, in Rabat. This first seminar which is expected to be an important stage in affirming a world vision of world governance and human rights, will focus on the following themes : Challenges of corporate social responsibility and place of human rights in globalisation ; identifying the current and coming international negotiations on corporate social responsibility (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), G8, European Union and International Organization for Standardization) ; negotiation strategy and work guidelines in different international contexts as well as concrete case studies within the scope of roundtables. This event will see the participation of representatives of government departments, corporations, trade unions, national human rights institutions, NGOs for defending human rights, experts and representatives of international organizations such as the International Organization of the Francophony (OIF), the European Union (EU), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International Labour Office (ILO), etc. The meeting will be also marked by the participation of the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on the issue of human rights, transactional corporations and other business enterprises, Mr John Ruggie, and the President of the European Parliament’s Working Group on Corporate Social Responsibility, Mr Richard Howitt. It is worth mentioning that the Advisory Council on Human Rights is President of the Francophone Association for National Human Rights Commissions since February 2007.

“Archives, Memory and History” will be the theme chosen by the Advisory Council on Human Rights (CCDH) to take part in the 14th International Exhibition of Book and Publishing that will be held this year from 8 to 17 February, in Casablanca. For this purpose, the CCDH plans a series of activities to discuss the subject chosen : a conference on “Testimony and the Writing of the History”, (February 13), a conference on “The Archives : Current Status and Law Enforcement”, (14 February). Furthermore, a meeting/workshop with the youth is expected to take place on history education (February 10) as well as a session for presenting the comic strip made in collaboration with some children on 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The theme of “Archives, Memory and History”, which constitutes a main concern in the process of upholding democracy and promoting human rights in a transitional society, falls within the scope of the Equity and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations, the follow-up and implementation of which the CCDH was entrusted with. It is worth mentioning that in addition to national actors who will facilitate these meetings, the CCDH invited Professor Claude Mouchard, writer, inter alia, of “Qui, si je criais… ?- Œuvres-témoignages dans les tourmentes du XXe siècle », (Laurence Teper éditions, May 2007).

On the occasion of the International Human Rights Day, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Advisory Council on Human Rights (CCDH) organize a meeting on legal empowerment for the poor in Morocco. The meeting falls within the scope of the programme of the UN Commission on Legal Empowerment for the Poor, which aims to collaborate in a strategic way in order to reach the UN Millennium Development Goals, at the national and international levels. The main goal of this programme is to decrease poverty indices by 50 per cent by 2015. The programme, which is an independent initiative supported by different countries, is encouraged by the work of experts in development and implementation of complicated reforms concerning legal appropriation and expansion of the rule of law to decrease poverty. The results of the field studies undertaken by Moroccan experts will be presented at this meeting, which will focus on the following areas: • Access to justice and rule of law in Morocco; • Property right; • Labour legislation; • Legal mechanisms for empowerment of informal sector. This Day is supposed to be a preparatory meeting for a national conference, due in January 2008. The goal of this conference will be to formulate recommendations on legal empowerment for the poor in Morocco. The meeting will see the participation of institutional players (ministerial departments, public organisms), civil society organizations, unions and academic players.

The Advisory Council on Human Rights (CCDH) organizes the Third Conference for the Arab National Human Rights Institutions. This event will be held from 12 to 14 November 2007 in Rabat on the role of such institutions in the promotion of the independence of the judiciary in the Arab region. The conference aims to support the national and regional initiatives aiming at reinforcing the role of national human rights institutions as well as that of other players in consolidating the rule of law and promoting the independence of the judiciary in conformity with the international norms. Nine Arab institutions (Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar and Tunisia), delegations representing the ministries of justice, experts from the United Nations, from the League of Arab States and from international and national human rights non governmental organizations will attend this conference.