The 7th edition of the Padova Model UPR has ended

The 7th edition of the Padova Model UPR, held from 18 to 22 November 2024, came to its conclusion. The event was organised by an international team of students and former delegates, with the support of the Human Rights Centre “Antonio Papisca” and the Department of Political Science, Law and International Studies (SPGI) and the Archive "Peace Human Rights" of the University of Padova. The project is run in cooperation with the UPR Branch of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) of the UN and the NGO UPR Info. This year, 54 international students from 6 universities worldwide participated in the simulation and the training activities associated. A special thanks to Nicoletta Zappile from UPR Info, Mohamed Kheir and Laia Valls Senties for attending the training sessions and providing insider tips to the participants. The simulation took place at Human Rights Center “Antonio Papisca” headquarters, in Padova.

At the Opening on the 19th of November, Mr. Guillaume Ngefa, the Chief of the Universal Periodic Review Branch of the Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division, OHCHR gave the opening remarks. He underlined how education is the foundation of any meaningful advancement in human rights and initiatives like the Padova Model UPR bridge the gap between academic learning, and the real world advocacy. Since 2018, the UPR branch together with UPR info, has been actively collaborating with the Padova Model UPR with the aim of reinforcing the knowledge, skills and competences of students.

During special side event, Ms Laura Dolci, Deputy Chief of the Universal Periodic Review Branch and Mohamed Keir, Human Rights Officer, gave an insightful overwiev of the challenges and best practices of Universal Periodic Review, and answered questions from the students.

Mr Mohamed Keir, during closing remarks on the last day of the simulation, expressed his enthusiasm for the Padova Model UPR and for the high preparation of the students that took part in the simulation. He felt really inspired to learn that well prepared and engaged new generations are eager to support the human rights cause.

After the four-day simulation and more than one month of training and preparation, these are the awarded students.

The Best State Under Review: The awarded team played the role of the State delegation of Maldives composed of students from the University of Graz: Sascha Preßnig and Clara Zausinger.

The Best Recommending State: The awarded team played the role of the State delegation of Maldives composed of students from the University of Graz: Janberk Nak and Ali Tanrioever.

The Best NHRI Delegation: The award went to the team playing the role of the Kenya National Commission of Human Rights: Dakota Zehler and Natalie Montenegro from the University of Graz.

The Best INGO Delegation: The best team was the one playing the role of the representatives of CARE International composed by Marina Garcia and Rafaela Maria Perugini from the University of Padova.

The Best Performing Team According to the Participants: The award went to the team playing the role of the NHRI Human Rights Commission of the Maldives: Maria Chiara de Cristofaro and Agata Ceciliot of the University of Padova.

The written submissions and the performances of all participating teams were outstanding this year. Irrespective of who were the awarded players, participants and teams deserve the warmest congratulations.

All participants in the 2024 edition of the Padova Model UPR are invited to set up the new Secretariat team tasked to organise, hopefully, the 2025 Model.

And last but not least, these are the members of the amazing team that in 2024 made the realisation of the Model possible: assisted by Paolo De Stefani, Sofia Pieretti, and Sofia Vanzan they were Lais Januario De Assis Cajazeira, Michele Ghanimeh, Lara Delgado Costa, Irene Coianiz, Sofia Lia Suizzo, Mihaela Stoyanova, Yasmin Barros, Maria Beatriz Nascimento Matos, Abdelrahman Zein, Caroline Massareli de Carvalho Moraes, Lidia Meloni (University of Padova), Anna Ryzewska (University of Wroclaw), Fiorella Gomez