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<span style="font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Dear NGO Representatives,</span></p>
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<span style="font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> </span></p>
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<span style="font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Secretariat of the Human Rights Council would like to refer to the announcement made yesterday afternoon by the President of the Human Rights Council on the Bureau’s decision of 2 March
2020 to follow the recommendations made by the UNOG Director-General in her letter on the same day concerning the global COVID-19 situation</span>
<span style="font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">and its implications for the 43rd session of the Human Rights Council.</span>
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<b><u><span style="font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">In this regard, you are hereby informed that all side-events scheduled during the 43<sup>rd</sup> session of the Human Rights Council, will be cancelled as of 3 March 2020 until the end
of the session. </span></u></b></p>
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<span style="font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Please also note that, due to the same reasons, persons who have been granted side-event accreditation and badges, will not be allowed to enter the Palais des Nations.</span></p>
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<span style="font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Secretariat would like to thank you for your understanding and flexibility, and stays available for further information.</span></p>
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<span style="font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Best regards,</span></p>
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<b><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">NGO support</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><br>
Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division<br>
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights<br>
<b>E-mail: </b></span><a href="mailto:hrcngo@ohchr.org" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">hrcngo@ohchr.org</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><br>
<b>Tel: </b>+41 22 917 92 20<br>
<b>Web: </b></span><a href="http://www.ohchr.org/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">www.ohchr.org</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">
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<b>Mailing Address: </b>8-14 Avenue de la Paix, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland </span>
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<span style="font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif; color:#1F497D">…………………………………………………………………..</span><span style="font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">On a different matter, today, I received an urgent letter from the UNOG Director-General, Ms. Tatiana Valovaya,</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">
</span><span style="font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">concerning the global COVID-19 situation and its implications for the 43<sup>rd</sup> session of the Human Rights Council. In her letter, the Director-General made reference to the measures
recommended by the Secretary General to the Chair of the Commission on the Status of Women and suggested that the Bureau of the Human Rights Council adopt a similar approach.
</span></p>
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<span style="font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The UNOG Director-General specified that this would entail cancelling all side events and encouraging representatives to refrain from travelling to Geneva for the rest of the session. She also
suggested that those Special Procedures mandate holders who are not already in Geneva could be encouraged to participate in the session via video-conferencing.
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<span style="font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Due to the current situation, I called the Bureau for an urgent meeting which ended just a few minutes ago. The Bureau discussed the letter of the UNOG Director-General and in the light of
the urgency of the current situation, decided to follow her recommendations.</span></p>
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<i><span style="font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> </span></i></p>
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<span style="font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The minutes of today’s Bureau meeting will be circulated to all delegations alongside the letter from the UNOG Director-General in the next few minutes. I would like to thank everybody for
their understanding and their flexibility. These are circumstances that are beyond our control, but they force us to react and take measures of pre-caution.
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