Engaging with intergovernmental mechanisms in our region

The APF will launch a major project to support national human rights institutions (NHRIs) in the Asia Pacific to engage two key intergovernmental mechanisms in regular dialogue on human rights issues.

Supported by the European Union, the project aims to build links between NHRIs in South-East Asia and the Pacific with representatives of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights and the Pacific Islands Forum respectively.

"NHRIs play a critical role as a bridge between civil society, government and the international human rights system," said APF Development Manager Thuy Doan-Smith.

"This project will assist them to deepen this role by building strong and collaborative relationships with inter-governmental mechanisms within their sub-regions," she said.

"Our goal is to assist NHRIs to share their expertise and contribute to human rights policy-making and responses by these two inter-governmental mechanisms."

An important component of the project will be to strengthen the capacity of participating NHRIs to collaborate with their State's representative on the inter-governmental mechanism. This could include, for example, developing projects or policy analysis on human rights issues of shared concern.

To support this, the APF will convene blended learning training programs for NHRIs, online communities of practice and provide small grants to assist targeted national projects.

In addition, the project will bring together representatives of intergovernmental mechanisms and NHRIs for facilitated roundtables on human rights issues.

Ms Doan-Smith said the program of activities would run over 24 months.

"We hope this program will help establish and entrench a process for regular exchange on human rights issues between NHRIs and intergovernmental mechanisms," she said.

Participating NHRIs will include Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Timor-Leste (South-East Asia) and Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa and Tuvalu (Pacific).

Date: 23 July 2020