Thirty participants from national human rights institutions (NHRIs) across West Asia have undertaken the Arabic version of the APF online course Understanding NHRIs and the Paris Principles.

Held in the APF Community, an online learning and collaboration space, the course provides an opportunity for NHRI staff to improve their understanding of the role and function of NHRIs in relation to the Paris Principles.

Following the success of the first version of the course delivered in English in late 2020, an Arabic version was developed to support NHRIs across West Asia.

Representatives from APF member institutions in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Palestine, Qatar and the newly established NHRI in Lebanon took part in the course from February to March 2021, with 80 percent of participants completing all modules.

Throughout the course, participants were supported by staff from the APF's sub-regional office in West Asia and engaged with each other in Arabic in the APF Community.

Feedback on the course was overwhelmingly positive, with participants reporting that the course was highly relevant to their work.

"I recently joined the Commission and through the course learned more about the work of national human rights institutions," said one course participant.

Another participant said that the course provided "a clear understanding of the terminology, in addition to the ease of the presented material."

The APF will continue to work towards having additional online courses and other resources available in shared languages within the membership in coming months.