The National Human Rights Council (CNDH), in partnership with United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), organized the third training session on “The participation of young people in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Pre-session”, on 25 and 26 August 2022, at the CNDH headquarters in Rabat, Morocco.

Led by CNDH executives, this training session is part of the preparation for participation in the next UPR which is scheduled for 8 November 2022, in Geneva. Thus, it aims to strengthen the capacities of young Moroccan human rights defenders to master the conduct/objectives of the Pre-session and the advocacy tools/techniques at the international level. It also intends to deepen their knowledge regarding monitoring tools, international standards and practical simulation exercises.

The program of this training session focuses on several axes, mainly: the Pre-session, the Role of civil society organizations in the UPR, Morocco's international commitments in terms of human rights, the Drafting and adoption of advocacy sheets, and the Simulation workshop: 41st Pre-session of the UPR on environmental rights, digital rights and rights of the elderly.

The previous training sessions provided a group of young Moroccan human rights defenders and representatives of the 12 regions of Morocco an opportunity to strengthen their capacities and knowledge relating to the UPR process and the role of different actors in monitoring the implementation of international human rights standards.

Following these pieces of training, stakeholders joined together within the framework of a network called "Associative Union of Moroccan Youth for the Protection of Human Rights" and submitted, on behalf of this network, a parallel report as part of the 4th cycle of the UPR.

This group of young people was also selected by UPR info (an NGO based in Geneva, responsible for promoting human rights and raising public awareness of the importance of the UPR) to discuss the situation of human rights in Morocco with the Member States of the United Nations on 31 August 2022 in Geneva, as part of the 41st pre-session of the UPR.