UNA-NCA Discusses the UN Human Rights Program in 2016

The year 2016 will be an important one for the Human Rights Program of the United Nations. Under the agreed rules for the UN’s Human Rights Council, the United States will take a year off, without being a member, but will almost certainly be canvassing support for re-election in the fall when UN elections are held. Closer to home, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is expected to establish an office in Washington DC, and the High Commissioner and UN special rapporteurs will undoubtedly face challenges in the Middle East and beyond.

Against this background, UNA-NCA and the American Foreign Service Association will co-host a forum on January 27, 2016 to learn US perspectives and plans on the UN’s human rights program in 2016, to explore major challenges being faced by the program, and to have an opportunity to raise questions with key American staff, including the State Department’s officer responsible for back-stopping US participation in the Human Rights Council, Dr. Wesley Reisser. Dr. Reisser recently received the 2015 F. Allen “Tex” Harris Human Rights Diplomacy Award at our annual Human Rights Awards Reception.

When: January 27, 2016, 6:00 – 8:00 pm

Where: American Foreign Service Association, 2101 E Street NW Washington, DC 20037

Speaker: Dr. Wesley Reisser, Senior Foreign Affairs Officer, Office of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, International Organization Affairs Bureau, U.S. Department of State

Discussant: Ted Piccone, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Project on International Order and Strategy, Latin America Initiative, The Brookings Institution

Moderator: Heather Hill, Co-Chair of the UNA-NCA Human Rights Committee