The expert advisors

• Print enough copies of the two scenarios for every participant to have one copy of both scenarios.
• Write up the guiding questions and instructions on a flipchart sheet.
• Flipchart sheets and marker pens.

Welcome the participants and explain the following:

• Congratulations! In recognition of all your hard work to promote FORB for all, you have just been promoted to the role of Technical Experts within the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
• Your role involves travelling to various countries and meeting with civil society groups to learn about the most pressing issues. You then need to formulate your best concrete recommendation on what the government of the day should do to protect FORB for all and meet with government representatives to convince them to implement this.
• Luckily, a number of you have been promoted at the same time so you can share this responsibility and work together in small teams on this challenging task!

GROUPWORK (55 MIN)

Divide the participants into four small groups and give each group copies of one of the two case studies and scenarios. Display and explain the following guiding questions and instructions on a PowerPoint slide or flipchart sheet.

1. Read the case study and scenario carefully. 10 min

2. Discuss the following in your teams: 20 min

• In order to address this issue taking both FORB and gender equality into account, what would be your team’s key message in the meeting with government representatives?
• What potential counter-arguments might your team face from the government and how could you potentially respond?

3. Work together to prepare: 25 min

• Your key message to the government.
• Your concrete recommendation to the government.
• Your responses to TWO counter-arguments that you anticipate.

PRESENTATIONS AND PLENARY FEEDBACK (40 MIN)

Give each participant a copy of the case study/scenario they have NOT yet read and allow 5 minutes for them to read it. Explain that the two groups who focused on the Egypt case study will present their messages, recommendations and counter-arguments, while participants in the other two groups take on the role of the Egyptian government representatives listening to the delegation from OHCHR. Explain the following:

• Government representatives must listen carefully to the messages, recommendations and arguments carefully.
• After listening to the recommendations from both groups the government representatives vote individually on whether they are for or against implementing the recommendation of the first group and then the second group. (They can vote to implement the recommendation from both groups.)
• Government members who win the votes (for or against implementation) have to explain their reasoning to the plenary.

The two groups role-playing the OHCHR delegation have 5 minutes each to present, followed by 10 minutes for the ‘government vote’ and reasoning. Repeat the process for the Pakistan case study.

Lead the concluding discussion by inviting the following reflections:

• Share one thing that you found inspiring, important or difficult in your discussions within the OHCHR team.
• How did it feel to have the government representatives accept/reject your recommendation?
• What have you learned from this exercise that might be useful for your own work?

Choose the case study that is most relevant for your context and have all the groups work through the same scenario. Let all groups present before putting the recommendations to a vote in the plenary. The OHCHR team that gets the most votes for their recommendation wins the competition. In the event of a tie the facilitator gets the deciding vote!