Following a suggestion from the League of Arab States (LAS) Secretariat, the EU-funded El-Hiwar II project organised on 8 June 2021 an online briefing to exchange on priorities and plans in the area of Human Rights.
The briefing was opened by H.E. Ambassador Dr Haifa ABU GHAZALEH, Assistant Secretary General Head of Social Affairs Sector, LAS and by H.E. Ambassador Christian BERGER, Head of the European Union Delegation to Egypt.
The EEAS and DG NEAR presented the latest EU Action Plan for Human Rights and Democracy as well as links with other initiatives such as the New Agenda for the Mediterranean, confirming the importance of Human Rights in the EU’s external action and cooperation programmes with the Arab region.
The LAS presented their Human Rights system and mechanisms as well as key elements of their strategy with regards to women rights and empowerment in addition to the mandate and actions of the LAS to support the rights of persons with disabilities.
The briefing also touched upon the impact of COVID on Human Rights, notably on the rights of vulnerable groups, as well as challenges that can be raised by the use of digital technologies.
Several EU Delegations based in the Arab region joined the event, in addition to staff of the LAS Secretariat and Brussels-based EU staff.
The briefing allowed to understand better each organisation’s priorities and the many developments and actions led by the EU and the LAS in the field of Human Rights. It also allowed to better identify who is working in this thematic area and establish contacts.
EU and LAS representatives indicated their interest in pursuing these information-sharing events in the field of human rights.
El-Hiwar II: Training and Information Course on Euro-Arab Diplomacy, is a project funded by DG NEAR and is conceived as a dialogue tool for the EU and the LAS to support strengthened work relations and to learn about each other's functioning, mechanisms and policies.
More information about an earlier briefing with the LAS on the new EU agenda for the Mediterranean
More information about the project: www.coleurope.eu/elhiwarii
Should you want more information about the project, please contact us here: elhiwarii@coleurope.eu
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This project is funded by the European Union