Human Rights and Disability: A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions
14 Mar 2017APF manual examines how NHRIs can use their unique mandate to promote and protect the human rights of people with disabilities (updated 2018)
Graphic: Plenary session at GANHRI 2018
The 2018 GANHRI annual meeting explored the steps NHRIs can take to include people with disabilities in their work and advocate for their rights.
This year's annual meeting of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI 2018) has focused on the practical steps that NHRIs can take to strengthen the ways they include people with disabilities in their efforts to monitor and advocate for their rights.
A full day was set aside to share the experiences, insights and questions of NHRIs during GANHRI 2018, which was held in Geneva from 21-23 February.
The program included a session with members of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), who discussed the unique role that NHRIs can play to promote and protect the rights of people with disabilities in their respective countries.
This includes monitoring implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons of Persons with Disabilities at the national level and ensuring that people with disabilities are included as partners in this work.
This monitoring role should also include NHRIs contributing parallel reports to the CRPD when their government takes part in the regular State party review process.
NHRIs can also contribute to other aspects of the CRPD's work, including the preparation of general comments that help clarify complex issues of policy and practice regarding implementation of the Convention.
GANHRI 2018 also provided opportunities for NHRIs to share information on a broad range of pressing human rights concerns, with events and panel discussions on:
The APF participated in a side event to discuss a program of support for the NHRIs of Central Asia – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – that has sought to strengthen their work to promote and protect human rights.
This program of support has been provided through the OHCHR-UNDP-GANHRI Tri-partite Partnership on NHRIs, which included the APF as the regional coordinating committee for NHRIs in the Asia Pacific region.
Date: 26 February 2018