Is self-determination as a fundamental human right part of the workshop's agenda?
Turks and Caicos Sun
As part of its on-going commitment to the advancement of human rights in the Turks and Caicos Islands, the TCI Human Rights Commission will continue its participation in the project Building Human Rights Capacity in the UK Overseas Territories.
A workshop, originally scheduled for November last year but postponed due to the passage of hurricane Tomas, has now been rescheduled for January 17th through 21st with the UK trainers holding sessions in Grand Turk and Providenciales.
The project is being sponsored by DFID in partnership with the Commonwealth Foundation, the Commonwealth Legal Education Association (CLEA) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The goals of the workshop are to:
- Increase the commitment by Overseas Territories Governments and partners to an improved human rights agenda
- Increase the awareness and capacity of governments and civil society to address human rights issues in the long term
- Strengthen human rights reporting and monitoring arrangements in accordance with relevant international treaties
This is the second in a series of proposed workshops to be held. The aim is to provide all participants in the training sessions with the foundation/building blocks about human rights and to address the needs of particular government departments and civil society in order to enable them to apply rights in practice/in their work. The training will seek to address matters that arise in the various Government Departments and other institutions and agencies such as Immigration, Labour, SPICE, the Police, Education, Health, Social Services, Gender Affairs, NGOs, Media, Business/Corporate Community, Statutory Bodies, Youth Affairs, Courts and Civil Society Groups.
Participants will, among other things examine;
- the role of civil society in promoting and protecting human rights
- rights as regards to gender equality, access to justice, immigration and labour rights, and
- how best to encourage civil society to monitor human rights, advocate for greater human rights protection, lobby authorities and use the international machinery for human rights protection.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Editor's Note:
The United Nations General Assembly in December, 2010 adopted its annual resolutions on the self-determiniation of the Turks and Caicos Islands and other non self-governing territories, and made the following points:
"Aware that the Human Rights Committee, as part of its mandate under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, reviews the status of the self-determination process, including in small island Territories (including the Turks and Caicos Islands)
Reaffirms the inalienable right of the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories to self-determination, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations and with General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV),
Also reaffirms that, in the process of decolonization, there is no alternative to the principle of self-determination, which is also a fundamental human right, as recognized under the relevant human rights conventions,
Further reaffirms that it is ultimately for the peoples of the Territories themselves to determine freely their future political status in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter, the Declaration and the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly, and in that connection reiterates its long-standing call for the administering Powers, in cooperation with the territorial Governments and appropriate bodies of the United Nations system, to develop political education programmes for the Territories in order to foster an awareness among the people of their right to self-determination in conformity with the legitimate political status options, based on the principles clearly defined in Assembly resolution 1541 (XV) and other relevant resolutions and decisions,
See also:
CARICOM Secretary General Calls for Restoration of Elected Government in Turks & Caicos Islands
Turks & Caicos Calls for United Nations Oversight after British Rule Extended
Turks & Caicos All Party Commission Chairman Updates UN on Status of Constitutional Restoration
Political Parties In Turks and Caicos Merge For March Against UK Take Over
Turks & Caicos Political Parties Unite to “Reclaim Democracy”
