Establishing the first state of the Establishing the first state of the artart Human rights library in Human rights library in EgyptEgypt

Establishing the first state of the Establishing the first state of the artart Human rights library in Human rights library in EgyptEgypt A cooperation

project between the National Institutions for Human Rights in Egypt and Norway (NCHR-E and NCHR-N)Presentation at the 72nd Norwegian Library Conference, March 19, 2010 “International projects of cooperation” arr. 51

Kristine Mesgrahl, LibrarianKristine Mesgrahl, Librariankristine.mesgrahl@gmail.comkristine.mesgrahl@gmail.com

1. Partners and background• Norwegian Centre for

Human Rights (est. 1987)– Part of the University of Oslo

from 1995– An academic institution with

focus on research, teaching and international projects

– Role as National Institution for Human Rights in Norway (UN network)

– Well established library (part of the University library)

– http://www.jus.uio.no/smr/english/

• Cooperation between the two institutions started as part of international HR network and dialogue

• Followed by several meetings, visits and reports evaluating cooperation possibilities

• Established the ground for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) December 2005

– Prolonged for three years in connection with the opening of the library in December 2009

• The National Council for Human Rights in Egypt (est. 2003)

– Much bigger than NCHR-N– Independent institution– Less focus on research more on

practical HR situation in Egypt – Handles direct complaints on HR

violations from Egyptian citizens– Role as National Institution for

Human Rights in Egypt (UN network)

– No formal library (a book collection)

– http://www.nchregypt.org/en/

2. National Institutions (NHRI)NHRI established based on

The UN “Paris Principles”

• Recommends that States establish an independent national institution for human rights, with the primary objective of assisting with consultancy, studies and information related to implementation of the internationally agreed human rights.

• UN Human Rights Commission Resolution 1992/54 and General Assembly Resolution 48/134,1993

• As National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI), the NCHR-N and NCHR-E are part of a regional and international network of national institutions.

• The network is managed by an international coordination committee (International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights – ICC), which works closely with the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.

For more information see: • National Human Rights Institutions Forum: http://www.nhri.net/• OHCHR: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/NHRI/Pages/NHRIMain.aspx• Paris Principles – http://snurl.com/27c33

3. The MoU and the library project

MoU Objective:–To facilitate joint

projects to enhance respect forhuman rights in either country

Project goals:

Contribute to the fulfillment of the National Council for Human Rights in Egypt’s goals and functions as a National Human Rights Institution

Collect, organize and disseminate human rights information

Serve as a national gateway to human rights information

Establish good network connections on a national, regional and international level

4. Target groups for the Library

1. The general public

2. Students

3. Researchers (Masters and PhD students etc.), journalists

4. Human rights institutions (both government, NGOs and CSOs)

5. NCHR-E researchers and staff

6. Interested parties who wish to be informed about the human rights situation in Egypt

7. Lawyers

8. Law drafters (some of whom are represented in the membership of the Council)

5. Application procedure• Two visits and several

meetings between the two institutions held in May 2007– In Cairo at the NCHR-E– In Oslo at the NCHR-N and at

the MfA

• Goal: a joint application• In effect an application from

the NCHR-N with appendixes from NCHR-E

• Application sent to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MfA) July 2007

– Including two project proposals total of 1,9 million NOK

• Election observation unit

• Support for library set up

• Approved October 2007– Based on NCHR-E’s own

prioritizing the MfA decided to support the library project

– Total budget NOK 1,2 million

– “The Ministry’s grants are lump-sum payments, and the Ministry is not obliged to provide further support for the project.”

6. Project timeline

2005 2006

2007

2008

May 3 -5Dec 28

MoU

2007

Nov 29

MfA funding

Visit to Cairo One week training in Oslo

Visits to Cairo and Oslo

Setting up the library

2008

2009

Visit to CairoOct

Setting up the library

Prolongation

of MoU

May

Final report to MfA

Dec 3

Project application

July 4May 16

April

May

Opening

7. Main activities Setting up the library

—Purchase Library equipment (shelves and technical equipment)

—Convert to the ALIS, member of Egyptian Libraries Network

—Recruit and train staff

—Prepare list of core human rights literature

—Build up a core human rights collection

—Organize human rights information physically and virtually

Carry out training and cooperation visits

Establish networks

• Spreadsheet instead of big project planning tool

• Report to NCHR-N from Egypt every three months, mail– Standardization on

reports

• NCHR-N final report to MfA max ½ year after finalization

• Web page with information on the project

• E-mail and Facebook

8. Reporting procedures & tools of cooperation

9. Lessons learned• Success factors

– Standard contracts and reporting tools

– Good contact between the involved parties

– Correlation between different documents, actors and stages in the project

– Cost control– Report along the way

• Small project + few people and good

overview- vulnerable when people

move, get sick, get transferred

Tips:• Use your connections - Dawson deal with UiO also for NCHR-E

• Talk to your network• Learn from others’ experience

Remember • “Things take time” … on both sides

– National holidays, weekends on different days (Muslim vs. Christian vs. Jewish)• Possible illness and other obligations

• Travel – Pay close attention to and evaluate need for and length of visits– You might need visas – could be time consuming, expensive and complicated procedures

• Budget – make room for unforeseen costs– pay and airfare rise– variable exchange rates

10. Conclusion

• Two different types of organizations– Cooperation on “equal

level” difficult • No new projects will start

under the MoU at present– Might support election

observation training in future

• Further cooperation will continue through the participation of both institutions in the Arab-European Human Rights Dialogue conferences– The Dialogue is an result of

an initiative made by the Danish HR institute after the incident of the Mohammad drawings

More on the Dialogue:

http://snurl.com/uu7hc

From NCHR-N:

• Important for Norway to participate in international projects to enhance cooperation and goodwill in both international and internal relations

• The direct value of this project to the common Egyptian is limited

• Part of the bigger picture – better access to information for the researchers in the council

• Will facilitate their work when they receive complaints from the citizens

My views: