Rabat hosts UN Human Rights Council conference
Under the theme ‘The Human Rights Council: the way forward’, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Residing Abroad is hosting in Rabat, on 21 and 22 November 2024, the United Nations Conference on the Human Rights Council and its role in the preservation and protection of human rights in the 47 member countries of the Council.
The event will be attended by high-level personalities in the field of diplomacy, international relations and human rights. At the opening, the three key participants of the conference will speak:
- Omar Zniber, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United Nations in Geneva and President of the Human Rights Council.
- Nasser Bourita, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Residing Abroad.
- Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Three workshops for three groups
The conference is made up of three workshops for three groups of participants, with each workshop addressing a different theme that builds on the central theme of the Human Rights Council:
- Assessing the main achievements and challenges faced by the Council since its creation in 2006.
- Strengthening and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the Council.
- Improving relations between the Council and the UN system, particularly in New York.
Who is the current president of the Human Rights Council?
Composed of 47 member states charged with strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the world, the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, elected Ambassador Omar Zniber as President for the 18th annual cycle on 10 January.
Zniber has been Morocco's permanent representative to the United Nations Office and other international organisations in Geneva since April 2018. He was Morocco's ambassador to Germany from 2011 to 2018; after holding the same post in Austria, with accreditation in Slovakia and Slovenia and being the Kingdom's permanent representative to international organisations in Vienna.
With a Master's degree in Public Law from the Mohammed V University in Rabat, Omar Zniber participated between 1989 and 1996 as a counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Morocco in Geneva, where he supervised disarmament affairs, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Health Organisation.
The Moroccan diplomat obtained his PhD in Public International Law from the University of Paris Panthéon-Assas, building up a long experience in the field of human rights in their international dimension.
Zniber held various positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Resident Abroad, including Head of Cabinet of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1986-1989), Head of the United Nations Division (1996-1999) and Director of the Directorate of the United Nations and International Organisations (1999-2003).