9/18 Conference facilities and financial support for the Human Rights Council: report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Document Type: Final Report
Date: 2008 Sep
Session: 9th Regular Session (2008 Sep)
Agenda Item: Item1: Organizational and procedural matters
GE.08-15978 (E) 230908
UNITED NATIONS
A
General Assembly Distr. GENERAL
A/HRC/9/18 22 September 2008
Original: ENGLISH
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Ninth session Agenda item 1
ORGANIZATIONAL AND PROCEDURAL MATTERS
Conference facilities and financial support for the Human Rights Council: report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights* **
* Late submission.
** Annexes are reproduced as received in the language of submission only.
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CONTENTS
Paragraphs Page
Introduction .................................................................................................... 1 - 2 3
I. CONFERENCE SERVICING ............................................................. 3 - 17 3
A. Background ................................................................................. 3 3
B. Human Rights Council activities ............................................... 4 - 5 3
C. Universal periodic review activities ............................................ 6 - 17 4
II. INFORMATION SERVICES .............................................................. 18 - 37 8
A. Press, radio, and television requirements .................................... 18 - 21 8
B. Webcasting requirements ............................................................ 22 - 37 9
III. CONCLUSION .................................................................................... 38 - 42 11
Annexes
I. List of mandated additional meetings at UNOG during the period 2006-2007-2008-2009 ............................................................................................ 13
II List of mandated additional meetings for human rights activities during the period 2006-2007 to 30 June 2008 ......................................................................... 16
III. Number of meetings with interpretation ................................................................ 17
IV. Details of UPR documentation submitted to DCM ................................................ 18
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Introduction
1. The Human Rights Council, in its resolution 8/1 of 18 June 2008, requested the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Conference Services Division (now the Division of Conference Management) at the United Nations Office at Geneva to assess the situation concerning delays in submission of documents to the Council, including those relating to the universal periodic review, and in particular the delays in the translation of documents into the six official languages of the United Nations, and to report back to the Council at its ninth session with proposals for adequate measures to address these problems. The Office of the High Commissioner and the Division of Conference Management have jointly reviewed the situation and the factors contributing to the issue. The first chapter of the present report reflects the conclusions regarding requirements to adequately support the meetings and mechanisms of the Human Rights Council.
2. In the same resolution, the Council requested the Department of Public Information to make an assessment of the situation pursuant to the Council’s affirmation that it would consider favourably the adoption of a decision on the webcasting of all public proceedings of its various working groups, taking into account the principles of transparency, equal treatment and non-selectivity and to report back to the Council at its ninth session with proposals for adequate measures, including the necessary resources to establish a permanent capacity for webcasting. Chapter II of this report presents the assessment of the Department of Public Information on the overall requirements for its services in respect of the Council and its machinery, including press and all media coverage.
I. CONFERENCE SERVICING
A. Background
3. With the establishment of the Human Rights Council, the pattern of conferences at the United Nations Office at Geneva became extremely dynamic and demanding in terms of services. The many activities of the Council and its mechanisms make advance planning of meetings difficult and they severely complicate the even distribution over the year of the overall conference workload. Furthermore, several new human rights mandates have been approved by the General Assembly, generating an additional workload for both meetings servicing and document processing. A summary of the new activities of the Human Rights Council machinery is included in annex I.
B. Human Rights Council activities
4. In addition to the 10 weeks of meetings that the Human Rights Council held pursuant to General Assembly resolution 60/251 of 15 March 2006, the Council can hold, as summarized in the non-paper of the Facilitator on the Council’s methods of work and rules of procedure (A/HRC/4/122), the following activities:
• Open-ended organizational meetings at the beginning of each Council year to consider the agenda, set the annual programme of work and other procedural issues
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• Organizational meetings before and, if necessary, during each Council session to discuss organizational and procedural issues particular to that session (convened by the President of the Council)
• Informative consultations/meetings on prospective resolutions or decisions (organized by the President of the Council or convened by main sponsors)
• Interactive dialogues, panel debates, seminars and round tables
• Consultations before the holding of special sessions; and
• Special and ad hoc sessions
5. Since the establishment of the Human Rights Council, the Division of Conference
Management has provided the following documentation services for the Council: a total of
3,469 original pages processed in 2006;1 7,921 pages processed in 2007; and 5,
C. Universal periodic review activities
6. At the first session, the Human Rights Council determined, in its decision 1/103, to establish an intersessional open-ended intergovernmental working group to develop the modalities of the universal periodic review mechanism, and that the working group shall have at its disposal 10 days (or 20 3-hour meetings) of fully serviced meetings. This working group met, as envisioned, in 2007. Pursuant to resolution 5/1 of 18 June 2007 on institution-building of the Human Rights Council, the entitlement of the working group was extended from two weeks to three sessions of two weeks each. The same resolution made provision for the documentation related to the universal periodic review. These entitlements were approved by General Assembly resolution 62/219 of 22 December 2007.
1. Assessment of documentation
7. The universal periodic review working group has held two sessions in 2008, from 7 to 18 April and from 5 to 16 May. As outlined in Council resolution 5/1, for each State under review three pre-session documents (limited to a combined total of 40 pages) and a report on the
1 As well, 5,868 original pages were submitted in 2006 for the former Commission on
Human Rights.
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outcome of the review were to be submitted. (Resolution 5/1 did not provide details regarding the report of the outcome of the review. In April 2008, the President of the Council provided additional details about these reports, but did not define their length.) Sixteen State party reports were examined at each of the first two sessions, and reports on each State were presented to the Council at its eighth session.
Table 1
Documents processed for the universal periodic review
Sessions Pre-session pages forecast
Additional pre-session pages processed
Total pre-session pages submitted
Outcome reports
Total (No. of pages)
First universal periodic review session
594 620 1 214 419 1 6372 (66 documents)
Second session 555 640 1 195 452 1 6483 (65 documents)
Report submitted to the Human Rights Council
1 001 1 001 (55 documents)
A detailed explanation of the documents submission for the two universal periodic review sessions is submitted in annex IV.
8. Documentation to be submitted for the third session (to be held in December 2008) of the universal periodic review is forecast to comprise 1,038 standard pages (48 documents) for the pre-session, 467 pages (16 documents) for the session itself, and 285 pages (17 documents) for the post-session, making a total of 1,790 pages and 81 documents. It is anticipated that future sessions will follow this documentation pattern.
2. Costs of the documentation
9. The pre- and post-session universal periodic review documents for the first two sessions of
the working group in 2008, together with the pre-session documents submitted to the Council
(1,001 estimated standard pages), comprise a total of 186 documents, amounting to
4,
2 Includes four pages of corrigenda.
3 Includes one page of corrigenda.
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periodic review-related reports produced for the Council), estimated costs to date amount to
US$ 3,857,
10. The statement of financial implications concerning resolution 5/1, dated 15 June 2007,
estimated that universal periodic review conference-servicing costs under section 2,
General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services, would total US$ 3,847,
3. Additional considerations
11. The back-to-back scheduling of the first two sessions of the universal periodic review working group exacerbated the difficulties that the Division of Conference Management experienced in processing the voluminous documentation. Similar difficulties were created for the timely submission of those documents for processing. None of the deadlines were met, which increased the pressure on its already overstretched resources of the Division. Furthermore, differing interpretations regarding the approved document lengths resulted in a much larger volume of documentation than planned (resolution 5/1 provided for 40 pages of pre-session documentation for each State under review, whereas actual submissions averaged 75 estimated standard pages for each State). The same situation applied to post-session documentation. Outcome reports of the universal periodic review working group for the States under review were not expected to exceed 10 pages each, whereas the actual outcome reports averaged 27 pages in length. In total, therefore, while the Division had planned to process 1,600 estimated standard pages for the two universal periodic review sessions, more than twice that volume was submitted.
12. Meeting deadlines for the issuance of documentation is challenging even in ordinary circumstances when meetings overlap, or when reports arising out of one meeting are used as input for another. The outcome of both universal periodic review working group sessions was
4
This amount covers the translation in six languages of 3,
submitted for the first two sessions of the universal periodic review, as well as their reproduction and distribution workload.
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scheduled for discussion at the eighth session of the Human Rights Council in June 2008, yet the opening of the Council session came only six weeks after the end of the first working group session and two weeks from the end of the second. Therefore, these documents could not ipso facto meet the 10-week deadline.
13. Temporary staff is recruited to assist with translation of documentation for anticipated periods of peak workload as forecast from the 10-week submission deadline. However, those temporary resources are contracted for a specific period. As a result, when documentation is submitted late, these additional resources are not fully in phase with the excess workload. Such was the case for the universal periodic review working group documentation. In this context, it should be noted that there is a limited supply of experienced translators, editors and interpreters in Geneva due to the heavy competition with the International Labour Organization, the World Health Organization and other Geneva-based organizations, not to mention the European institutions, which reserve conference-servicing staff two to three years in advance. This depletes the local and European freelance markets during certain periods of the year. The usual lead time for recruiting freelance translation staff is several months, thus making it very difficult to accommodate changing schedules and the late submission of documents with temporary staffing.
14. Finally, it should be noted that the backlog of summary records to be translated for official meetings has grown each year from 1998 to the present. The backlog includes drafting records for 97 meetings (not including the 2008 Human Rights Council meetings) and more than 87,000 pages (including only summary records pending from 1998-2007) remain to be translated - the equivalent of having 131 translators and revisers work for one full year. The continuing growth in this backlog reflects the inadequacy of the existing capacity in the Languages Service to meet the ever-increasing workload.
4. Additional human rights conference activities
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17. The Durban review process, which includes sessions of the Preparatory Committee, an open-ended intergovernmental working group and five regional conferences, is scheduled to take place in 2008 and 2009. Although mandated by the General Assembly in its resolution 62/220, there has been no budgetary provision approved for the required conference services. The report of the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly (see A/C.5/62/21, para. 15) suggests that the additional requirements represent a charge against the contingency fund and, as such, would require additional appropriations under the proposed programme budget to be still approved by the General Assembly. Although this process can be considered a one-time ad hoc requirement, the resource implications are enormous, and it can be anticipated that similar such ad hoc events will continue to be added to the United Nations Office at Geneva calendar in the future.
II. INFORMATION SERVICES
A. Press, radio and television requirements
18. The United Nations Information Service provides press, radio, television and photo coverage of United Nations issues and events in Geneva. This involves preparing press releases in English and French of all public meetings of the Human Rights Council, including those of its major subsidiary bodies, producing television news reports and features for distribution to national and international broadcasters and television news agencies, producing radio news reports and programmes for dissemination through United Nations Radio New York, and providing photos for United Nations and media publication.
19. To carry out these duties throughout the year, the Service’s staff is augmented by temporary collaborators and its permanent production capacity is increased through the rental of additional equipment as required. Traditionally, sufficient funding was allocated under relevant budgetary lines to cover human rights meetings, including the six-week session of the then-Commission on Human Rights.
20. With the advent of the Human Rights Council, there was a major increase in the number of regularly scheduled meetings requiring coverage. Existing resources are thus insufficient to recruit temporary English- and French-language press officers; English-, French- and Spanish-language radio producers; English-language television producers; as well as cameramen, radio engineers and photographers to service the additional meetings.
21. In keeping with the Organization’s zero-growth budget policy for the 2008-2009 biennium, the Information Service in Geneva was instructed, along with the Department of Public Information as a whole, to limit its resource request to the same level as in previous bienniums. The additional funding required for the various information coverage aspects of the Human Rights Council, as requested by the Council in its decision 3/104, was included in a separate, comprehensive report to the General Assembly (A/62/125). However, the General Assembly approved no additional budgetary allocation to the Department for this purpose.
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B. Webcasting requirements
22. To highlight the newly created Human Rights Council during its inaugural high-level segment, the webcasting of Council proceedings, including live broadcasts as well as archived video by date and speaker, was initiated in consultation with OHCHR and the Host Government. It quickly became apparent that this service met a crucial need for a higher level of transparency and openness in the Council’s work.
23. Provision of webcasting service to the Human Rights Council comprises the following elements:
(a) Filming of individual speakers and television coverage of that work;
(b) Encoding and live transmission coverage via the Internet;
(c) Logging and timing of the individual speakers and archiving of that information;
(d) Online publishing of webcast video and development and maintenance of the Human Rights Council Webcast website.
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27. Because of the difficulties faced by the Department of Public Information in absorbing these costs, and given the balance of the voluntary contribution earmarked to support webcasting of Human Rights Council proceedings, a temporary division of financial responsibilities for webcasting was agreed until the establishment of a permanent capacity. This involved having the Department cover costs of the television coverage component and the actual webcast transmission of regular Council sessions on the Internet, with OHCHR financing the recruitment of webcast assistants to prepare speaker-by-speaker archives of the sessions and the travel and replacement costs for a New York-based webcast producer. OHCHR also continues to cover from voluntary contributions all the costs associated with special sessions of the Council.
28. As the Human Rights Council’s working methods have developed, there have been an increasing number of ad hoc requests for webcasting of other meetings. In the first half of 2008, this became a critical issue in relation to the new centerpiece of the Council’s work, the universal periodic review, as well as for the Durban Review Conference’s preparatory committee process. The Department of Public Information was asked to webcast the universal periodic review meetings, creating a precedent given that working group meetings do not usually receive such coverage at Headquarters. A statement from the President of the Council indicated that the Council would “consider favourably the adoption of a decision on the webcasting of all public proceedings of its various working groups”, and this was echoed by the Council in its resolution 8/1. The financing for these sessions has also been covered entirely from voluntary contributions.
29. The number of meetings requiring webcasting, the sporadic addition of requests, the frequent schedule changes and the uncertain funding have had an adverse effect on the production work of the Radio and Television Section. While the limited staff and facilities are fully involved with webcasting, there is little capacity for news and feature production. Services to broadcasters have been reduced as well.
30. Webcasting of the Human Rights Council alone is expected to involve 26 weeks of meetings a year. The OHCHR secretariat has been asked to explore the feasibility of webcasting the proceedings of all the treaty bodies as well, a request indicative of a growing demand for webcasting of other major activities at the United Nations Office at Geneva. For the moment, except in rare cases in which special financing is available, these services cannot be provided.
31. It is thus apparent that a permanent webcast capacity for the United Nations Office at Geneva is urgently needed.
1. The television coverage component
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33. A remote camera system is being installed in Conference Room XX of the Palais des Nations, which is presently under renovation. This has been designated as the standing location for Human Rights Council meetings, and the suitability of that system for webcast purposes is being explored. The viability of the system will be tested later this year.
34. However, to ensure a year-round ability to provide high-quality broadcast and webcast coverage, a major investment in cameras and production equipment and facilities will be required. The purchase of fixed camera coverage equipment would coincide with major technological changes in the television industry. Standard definition facilities are giving way to the sharper quality “high-definition”, or HD, equipment. The new fixed-camera coverage installation will necessitate a change in the whole television production line from standard-definition to high-definition equipment.
2. The webcast component
35. Whatever option is selected for filming, a permanent webcasting capacity will require the creation of a well-staffed and equipped webcast section to handle the transmission and archiving of the meetings. For the Human Rights Council alone, this is expected to involve 26 weeks of meetings a year. As noted above, there is a growing demand for the webcasting of other major activities at UNOG as well, including possibly human rights treaty bodies. For the moment, except in rare cases in which special financing is available, these services cannot be provided.
36. In order to meet these requirements, the creation of a permanent webcast structure is envisaged to enable the simultaneous coverage of two events: e.g. the Human Rights Council and press conferences or briefings in English, French and the original language of the speaker. Coverage of any other meetings, bodies or events would only be possible when the Council is not in session. It should also be noted that webcasting of treaty body meetings would require additional infrastructure at the Palais Wilson, where most of those meetings are held, as well as more staff and equipment at the Palais des Nations.
37. The proposed study on a permanent webcasting capacity at the United Nations Office at Geneva, referred to in the report of the Secretary-General on budgetary matters (A/62/125) submitted to the General Assembly in 2007, remains the best way to accurately determine the actual needs for the establishment of such a capacity. In the absence of the Assembly’s approval of the funding for the Human Rights Council webcast requirements, DPI identified with some difficulty other resources to conduct that essential study, which is now being initiated. This will entail a detailed examination of the facilities and equipment that are already available, including the proposed facilities in Conference Room XX at the Palais des Nations as well as a determination of additional equipment and staffing needs. After a thorough analysis of these elements a final proposal, including the resources required, will be presented for consideration by the General Assembly.
III. CONCLUSION
38. It is an unassailable fact that the demand for conference services for the Human Rights Council and its machinery is growing. In recognition of the increase of some 508 meetings per year, permanent posts for one full extra team of interpreters (20 posts) at the United Nations Office at Geneva were authorized by the General Assembly
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in December 2007 for the 2008-2009 biennium (see A/62/125 and A/62/563/Add.1). At the same time, resources for contractual translation were doubled - offset by a cut in temporary assistance for meetings - and five senior reviser posts were authorized to provide quality control for outsourced translations. However no similar provisions were approved by the General Assembly to address the concomitant increase in requirements for referencing, editing, translating and typing of over 10,000 additional pages5 of related reports mentioned in annex I, in addition to estimated 3,079 standard pages by which the universal periodic review mechanism in 2008 is expected to exceed the estimates prepared for its sessions. Similarly, no provision has been made for additional drafting and in-house translation of summary records.
39. Experience has shown that current Division of Conference Management document-processing capacity cannot meet the documentation requirements of the Human Rights Council and its subsidiary machinery. The lack of sufficient permanent conference capacity does not allow for the required flexibility and timeliness in accommodating urgent and unforeseen requests for meetings and processing of documentation. Additional staff resources, provisionally estimated at approximately US$ 7,500,000 per year, are accordingly urgently required to enable the Division to ensure the appropriate level of support required by the Human Rights Council.
40. At the same time, there are inadequate resources for the necessary editing of documents prior to submission, which is a critical element of the timely documentation chain. The establishment of editor posts in OHCHR is accordingly required to address this aspect of the process.
41. The Human Rights Council also requires significantly more media services than its predecessor body. To increase public awareness and understanding of its work, the provision of an adequate level of resources for information work is indispensable. Webcasting has been identified by the Council as a vital component in communication about its role and functioning. Effective and continuous delivery of webcasting and all media services require stable, permanent personnel and facilities. In order to provide these services, the Department of Public Information will require additional infrastructure of approximately US$ 2,500,000, supplemented by related staff and other recurring costs of approximately US$ 1,700,000.
42. A report detailing these resource requirements will be prepared for submission to the General Assembly during its sixty-third session.
5 These figures include also 2,146 pages forecast for the Durban Review process.
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ANNEXES
Annex I
List of mandated additional meetings at UNOG during the period 2006-2007-2008-2009
No. Title Legislative Authority
Servicing Parameters Number of additional meetings per year
Number of additional pages of
documents per year
Budgetary and resource
implications for DCM
Balance of funds/resources
allocated/not allocated to DCM
1 Human Rights Council (with “as required” conference servicing entitlement)
A/RES/60/251 A/62/125 A/62/7/Add.25
- Interpretation: 6 languages - Summary records - Documents: 6 languages
100 additional meetings (A/62/125) + 10 wks already budgeted for the HRC (6 wks from the former Commission of Human Rights + 4 weeks of the new HRC)
2,000 pages US$3,792,100.-- + Additional permanent staff needed.
US$3,792,100.-- + 20 new posts for Interpretation + 5 new Senior Reviser posts were allocated. No posts for translators, editors and conference officers were allocated.
2 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group
HRC resolutions 5/1 A/62/125 A/62/7/Add.26
- Interpretation: 6 languages - Documents: 6 languages
60 meetings 2,500 pages US$3,800,000.-- + Additional permanent staff needed.
US$874,000.-- only were allocated. No additional posts were allocated as per A/62/563/Add.1
3 Ad Hoc Committee to elaborate complementary standards in the field of racism
A/RES/61/236 A/61/448 A/61/530 A/61/530/Add.1 A/61/592/Add.2
- Interpretation: 6 languages - Documents: 6 languages
20 meetings 50 pages US$225,908.-- No funds/resources received by DCM.
4 OP-CAT- Sub-Committee against Torture and first Meeting of States Parties
A/RES/61/236 A/61/448 A/61/530 A/61/530/Add.1 A/61/592/Add.2
- Interpretation: 4 languages - Documents: 4 languages - Summary records
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No. Title Legislative Authority
Servicing Parameters Number of additional meetings per year
Number of additional pages of
documents per year
Budgetary and resource
implications for DCM
Balance of funds/resources
allocated/not allocated to DCM
5 *Durban Review Process (Conference itself, Regional Preparatory Meetings and Preparatory Committee Meetings). *All these activities are for 2007/2008/2009 only.
A/RES/62/220 A/C.5/62/21 A/61/448 A/61/530 A/61/530/Add.1 A/61/592/Add.2 A/RES/62/143
- Interpretation and documentation for Conference and Preparatory Committee: 6 languages. - Interpretation and documentation for Regional Preparatory Meetings: 3 languages, depending on the region
120 meetings 1,100 pages US$4,895,900.-- No funds/resources received so far by DCM.
6 *Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group of the Preparatory Committee for the Durban Review Conference *Activity for 2008/2009 only
PC.1/10 A/62/375 A/RES/62/143 A/C.5/62/21 A/62/7/Add.28
- Interpretation: 6 languages - Documents: 6 languages
20 meetings 1,046 pages US$1,625,700.-- No funds/resources received by DCM.
7 Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and its Working Groups
A/62/433 A/C.5/62/15
- Interpretation for the Committee: 6 languages. - Parallel meetings with interpretation for 7 w/d. - Summary records. - Documents for the Committee: 6 languages. For the Working Groups: - 3 languages for interpretation and documents
114 meetings No pages to be translated by UNOG. As per agreement with NY, all the documentation and SRs are processed by NY. UNOG is responsible for reproduction/ distribution of documents only.
US$2,059,100.-- US$2,059,100.-- were allocated to DCM in accordance with confirmation received from DGACM on 24 December 2007 to cover meeting services, reproduction and distribution of documents.
8 Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (to meet as from 2009)
A/RES/61/106 A/62/439/Add.5 A/C.5/61/15
- Interpretation: 6 languages - Documents: 6 languages - Summary Records
20 meetings. (Sign interpretation will also be needed.)
1,500 pages. Documentation in Braille is also needed.
US$3,954,400.-- for 2009 only. - Interpretation for sign language needed. - Documentation in Braille needed.
US$3,954,400.-- still to be allocated to DCM.
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No. Title Legislative Authority
Servicing Parameters Number of additional meetings per year
Number of additional pages of
documents per year
Budgetary and resource
implications for DCM
Balance of funds/resources
allocated/not allocated to DCM
9 Committee on Enforced Disappearances (to meet as from 2009)
A/RES/61/177 A/61/530
- Interpretation: 6 languages. - Documents: 6 languages. - Summary Records
22 meetings 220 pages US$1,024,000.-- US$1,024,000.-- still to be allocated to DCM.
Total of additional meetings with services per year: 508 meetings.
Total of additional pages of documentation to be processed per year: 10,116 pages.
Total of budgetary and resource implications for DCM: - US$25,429,868.--; - Additional permanent staff needed; - Interpreters for sign language needed; - Processing of documentation in Braille needed.
Total of funds/resources allocated: - US$6,725,200.--. Total of funds/resources to be allocated for 2009 in connection with the conference activities of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Committee on Enforced Disappearances: - US$4,978,400.--. Total of additional permanent staff allocated: - 20 new posts for interpreters; - 5 new Senior Reviser posts. NOT allocated: - US$13,726,268.--; - posts for translators/revisers and editors; - posts for conference support staff.
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Annex II
List of mandated additional meetings for human rights activities during the period 2006-2007 to 30 June 2008
AOne page =330 words BTranslation/Revison data for May and June 2008 are estimated, based on figures declared by Translation Section * as 30 June
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Annex III
Number of meetings with interpretation
2006 2007 2008 end June 2 008 vs 2007 2008 vs 2006 July Dec 2008 Hum an rights council 111 114 82 72% 74% 32 UPR 12 9 35 389% 292% 20 Review M anda tes 21 28 Rules and P roc 17 Prep-com Durban rev 13 15 115% 30 Cttee on standard 9 10 Arbitra ry detention 31 32 8 25% 26% 24 Afracan Descent 8 8 100% National Institu tion 3 6 5 83% 167% W/G Rights to Developm ent 8 13 6 46% 75% 10 Slave ry Fund 1 8 Indigenous Popu lation Fund 9 7 6 86% 67% Torture Fund 1 1 1 100% 100% 1 Tech coop Fund 2 2 1 50% 50% Covenant Socal and cultural 16 16 20 125% 125% w/g du rban prog 18 15 8 53% 44% involuntary d isap 8 4 1 25% 13% 30 mercena ries 10 11 9 82% 90% 10 CHR 21 HRC sub-commission 30 HRC sub-commission Minorities 4 W/G on S ituation 5 6 10 167% 200% Slave ry 4 W/G Indigenous Popula tion 8 3 W/G Com mu nication 16 10 9 90% 56% 10 W/G Durban Prep-com 4 Socia l Forum 4 12 Hum an Rights Ctte e 61 62 50 Chairp of HR 9 9 10 111% 111% Hum an Rights Ctte e - Com munication 20 18 2 11% 10% Righ ts of Ind ige nous 13 OH CHR 69 33 12 36% 17% Child 126 92 61 66% 48% 28 CEDAW 6 34 567% 30 CEDAW prep W /G 6 CERD 61 60 30 50% 49% 48 Cat 61 39 64% 20 ECO, Soc, cu lt Rights 60 27 45% 30 Mig rants workers 20 20 20 100% 100% 10 Chairp Treaty bodies 10 9 10 111% 100% Child Cttee prep W /g 35 26 18 69% 51% 30 ECO, Soc, cu lt Rights P re -sess W /G 15 17 9 53% 60% 10 OP-CAT Sub-com 27 20 74% 12 OP-CAT stat Part 1 1 Foru on M ino rities issues 4
903 696 535 77% 59% 469
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Annex IV
Details of UPR documentation submitted to DCM
A. First UPR session
The 16 States under review were: Algeria, Argentina, Bahrain, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, Finland, India, Indonesia, Morocco, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Tunisia and the United Kingdom. The details of the review of these States are as follows:
(a) Pre-session documents The 47 pre-session6 documents submitted comprised three sets:
• First set: 15 national reports (South Africa eventually decided not to submit a national report, amounting to a total of 534 estimated standard pages (ESP, comprising 330 words) with an average of 35.6 ESP per report versus the 20 page maximum as stated in Resolution 5/1, which thus should have amounted to 300 ESP. DCM processed 234 additional estimated standard pages.
• Second set: 16 compilations of information by the substantive secretariat, amounting to a total of 355 ESP with an average of 22.18 ESP per report versus the 10 page maximum as stated in Resolution 5/1, which should have amounted to 160 ESP. DCM processed 195 additional estimated standard pages.
• Third set: 16 summaries of information provided by relevant stakeholders, amounting to a total of 325 ESP with an average of 20.31 ESP per report versus the 10 page maximum as stated in Resolution 5/1, which should have amounted to 160 ESP. DCM processed 165 additional estimated standard pages.
6 This paper emphasizes the different kinds of documentation (pre-, in- and post-session)
because different deadlines apply to them. Repeated General Assembly resolutions stipulate that, except in special cases, pre-session documents should be submitted for processing and translation no later than ten weeks before the beginning of the session at which they are to be discussed, and made available to delegations in all relevant languages six weeks before the opening of the session. In-session documentation is supposed to be translated within 48 hours of submission (24 hours at Headquarters, which operates night and weekend shifts for the purpose). Post-session documentation is not normally subject to such rigorous time limits except where the outcome of one meeting (generally of a subsidiary body) is treated as input for another; in that case, the 10/6-week rule applies.
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To summarize: The actual submission was 1,214 ESP
The original submission should have been 620 ESP
Pages exceeding the mandate 594 ESP
In addition to the above, three corrigenda representing 4 ESP were submitted.
(b) Outcome reports 16 outcome reports were presented at the end of the working group session and treated as post-session documents, amounting to a total of 419 estimated standard pages with an average of 26.18 ESP per report. No page limitation was mentioned in Resolution 5/1.
The total estimated standard pages received for this first session was thus 1,637.
Sessions Dates No. of pre-session
docs
No. of post session
docs
Corr. docs Total docs Total of words
Total ESP
1st UPR session
7-18/4/2008 47 16 3 66 540 137 1 637
B. Second UPR session
The 16 States under review were: Benin, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, France, Japan, Mali, Pakistan, Peru, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Romania, Tonga, Ukraine and Zambia. The details of the review of these States are as follows:
(a) Pre-session documents The 48 pre-session documents consisted of three sets:
• First set:16 national reports, amounting to a total of 520 ESP with an average of 32.5 ESP per report versus the 20 page maximum as stated in Resolution 5/1, which should have amounted to 320 ESP. DCM processed 200 additional estimated standard pages.
• Second set: 16 compilations of information by the substantive secretariat, amounting to a total of 366 ESP with an average of 22.8 ESP per report versus the 10 page maximum. as stated in Resolution 5/1, which should have amounted to 160 ESP. DCM processed 206 additional estimated standard pages.
• Third set: 16 summaries of information provided by relevant stakeholders, amounting to a total of 309 ESP with an average of 19.3 ESP per report versus the 10 page maximum as stated in Resolution 5/1, which should have amounted to 160 ESP. DCM processed 149 additional estimated standard pages.
A/HRC/9/18 page 20
To summarize: The actual submission was 1,195 ESP
The original submission should have been 640 ESP
Pages exceeding the mandate 555 ESP
In addition, one estimated standard page corrigendum was submitted.
(b) Outcome reports 16 outcome reports were presented at the end of the working group session and treated as post-session documents, amounting to a total of 452 estimated standard pages with an average of 35.6 ESP per report. No page limitation was mentioned in Resolution 5/1.
The total estimated standard pages received for this second session was 1,648.
Sessions Dates No. of pre-session
docs
No. of post sessions
docs
Corr. docs Total docs Total of words
Total ESP
2nd UPR session
5-16/5/2008 48 16 1 65 543 809 1 648
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