Universal Periodic Review individual NGO submission template – Prepared by CHRI
                 Note: This template has been developed by CHRI on an experimental basis and may not
                 be perfectly suited to your country situation. It is intended as an aid for preparing UPR
                 submissions but you should modify it as required, prioritising the issues of most
                 importance to your country and organisation.   You should not feel that you must
                 complete all parts of the template; the important thing is that you provide information
                 where you feel well placed to do so.  The best source of guidance for making UPR
                 submissions continues to be the OHCHR’s technical guidelines available at:
                 http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/UPR/TechnicalGuideEN.pdf    
                 Points to note:
                        an organisation does not need ECOSOC status to make a UPR submission;
                        an organisation may submit one individual submission and as many joint
                         submissions as desired;
                        individual submissions should not exceed five pages or 2815 words;
                        joint submissions should not exceed 10 pages or 5630 words;
                        submissions should be made in one of the official UN languages, preferably
                         English, French or Spanish;
                        all information provided must be credible and reliable;
                        focus should be on developments since the last review and on the implementation
                         of recommendations received at the last review; 
                        submissions should be uploaded to  https://uprdoc.ohchr.org  on or before the
                         deadline for your country’s stakeholder submissions (dates can be found at
                         http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/NgosNhris.aspx); and
                        once submitted to OHCHR submissions will be displayed on their website, there is
                         no provision for anonymous submissions.  If you are concerned that you might
                         put yourself at risk by making a submission please feel free to contact CHRI as we
                         may be able to submit information on your behalf.
            [Cover Page – compulsory]
                                                                  nd
              Stakeholder Submission of [organisation] for the [2 ] Universal Periodic
                                         Review of [country]
                                               [Date]
                            Insert your organisation’s logo/banner/letterhead
            [Insert a paragraph about your organisation.   Include your organisation’s name, acronym,
            contact details and webpage.   Also include a description of the main activities of your
            organisation, ECOSOC status and date of establishment. 
            The cover page will not count towards the word/page limit.]
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               A. Consultation process 
                   1. [Here you can mention whether your government has held any consultations with civil
                       society in preparation for this review. If you have enquired and not heard anything back,
                       you could also include this information.]
               B. The current normative and institutional framework of the country under review 
                   2. [Here you can give a brief overview of the current human rights framework in your
                       country and your assessment of whether it has been adequately implemented.  Areas
                       you may wish to focus on could include:
               (i) Constitutional Framework 
                   3. Are there issues with the Constitutional framework of your country or with its
                       implementation?  What is the cause of this problem e.g. bureaucratic apathy, excessive
                       executive interference or failure of the government to implement important constitutional
                       guarantees?
               (ii) Domestic Legal Protections
                   4. Does your country have any specific human rights protection laws?  You could use this
                       space to give a brief critique of the effectiveness of these laws.
               (iii) National Human Rights Institution 
                   5. Does your country have a NHRI?   How effective is that NHRI?   Were any
                       recommendations made about the NHRI in the last review and to what extent have these
                       been implemented?]
               C. Achievements, best practices and priority areas of concern 
                   6. [You can use this space to discuss any developments in the human rights situation of
                       your country since the last review.   What progress has been achieved?   What
                       improvements are you most proud of and that you believe other States could learn from?
                       What are the human rights issues of greatest concern to your organisation?  What
                       issues do you think should be national priorities and why?  You can also make practical
                       suggestions to improve these situations.
                   7. Information should be clustered by issue with each issue given a separate heading.
                       Under each heading you may wish to: 
                      explain the issue;
                      explain the current domestic legal provisions that relate to this issue;
                      specify how the issue relates to any of your country’s international obligations;
                      explain the current state practice or approach to the problem;
                      include any other information that you consider to be relevant;
                      detail any recommendations previously made by the international community to your
                       government on the issue, what your government’s response was and what action was
                       taken?; and
                      make a recommendation as to how the situation could be improved]
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       D. Cooperation of the country under review with international human rights mechanisms 
         8. [Here you should assess the level of commitment your Government has shown towards
          implementing the recommendations it received in its last UPR.  Have there been any
          consultations or follow-up initiatives?  Have the human rights issues that were identified
          improved in any tangible manner? 
         9. Has your Government engaged with the treaty bodies, independent UN experts or
          relevant   regional   mechanisms   since   the   last   review?     How   effective   was   this
          engagement?]
       E. Human Rights instruments and documents 
         10. [Here you can mention the UN conventions your Government has yet to sign or ratify.
          You can specify whether these have been the subject of previous recommendations and
          what response those recommendations received from your government.]
       F. Recommendations
         11. [List all the recommendations you have made in this submission.  If necessary you can
          cluster these and separate with headings.]
       Comments or queries on this template, or on the UPR process in general, should be addressed
       to Kirsty Welch at: kirsty@humanrightsinitiative.org
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