A/HRC/4/106
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developed a series of discussion papers drafted by scholars on the Holocaust and genocide;
launched a film series with the New York Tolerance Center and produced a 12-minute DVD of
highlights of the 2006 Holocaust Remembrance Day.
55.
During the reporting period, the Group Programmes Unit (GPU) organized 64 briefings
for visiting groups to the United Nations on the subject of human rights. These briefings
reached a total of 2,283 participants. Human rights is an issue frequently addressed in the course
of the guided tours of United Nations Headquarters. Exhibit panels with the main provisions of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are on display along the tour route. A total of
412,042 visitors took the guided tour in 2005, and 436,755 visitors in 2006. The Public Inquiries
Unit responded to a total of 13,891 inquiries on human rights, while the Palestine,
Decolonization and Human Rights Section handled approximately 500 information requests
from various sources during the reporting period.
56.
A series of exhibits was organized in the General Assembly public lobby at Headquarters
on a number of themes relating to human rights. The relevant exhibits in 2005 included:
Lest we forget: the triumph over slavery (January); Islam (January); Auschwitz - the
depth of the abyss (January); Afterwards, it’s just a part of you (January);
Empower women (March); Raising the bar: new horizons in disability sports (March);
Human rights mural (March); Indigenous art and photographic exhibit (May); Children of
Darfur (September); Palestinian exhibit (November); and 60 years of international
solidarity (November). The 2006 exhibits included: No child’s play (January);
Holocaust Learning Centre (January); Child labour (April); Indigenous peoples:
honouring the past, present and future (May); and Contextualization: a Palestinian
narrative (November).
57.
Africa Renewal (formerly Africa Recovery), a magazine produced by the Department in
English and French, carried more than 40 articles on human rights issues pertaining to Africa
during the reporting period. The articles covered a wide range of issues such as the new
African peer review mechanism, an African Union programme to assess the performance of
African States on human rights standards, economic management and democracy. In one of the
magazine’s cover stories, women in Sierra Leone spoke out against sexual violence and other
war crimes as part of that country’s peace and reconciliation process. Articles also examined
efforts to attain gender equality, prevent genocide, protect press freedom, prosecute rights abuses
and uphold the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS in Africa, and highlighted initiatives on
the continent to promote human rights through the New Partnership for Africa’s Development
(NEPAD). Africa Renewal is produced four times a year and has a print run of 25,000 copies in
English and 10,000 in French. Nearly half of the copies go to readers in Africa, and the rest are
distributed primarily in Europe, Asia and North America. Highly regarded among its readership,
the magazine’s subscribers include academics, NGOs, the media, humanitarian aid agencies,
United Nations system personnel, African policy makers and opinion shapers, economists and
other experts on Africa. The Department also maintains the Africa Renewal website in English
and French (www.un.org/AR).
58.
In 2005, the Department published two brochures describing the historical work of the
United Nations in furthering decolonization and options available to the Non-Self-Governing
Territories in exercising their right to self-determination. In 2006 it prepared another brochure
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