Asia Pacific Forum. 27 th Session of the ICC Regional Highlights

Transcription

1 Asia Pacific Forum 27 th Session of the ICC Regional Highlights

2 Speaking Notes for APF Chairperson I have the pleasure of briefly highlighting some of the major activities of the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions ( APF ). Since 1 July, the APF has conducted 27 separate capacity building activities for our member institutions. The APF anticipates undertaking a further 16 activities prior to the 30 June bringing the total to 43 capacity building activities for APF members during the 12 month period. These activities include (i) capacity assessments (ii) training and (iii) specialist projects. Capacity Assessments The APF undertakes a capacity assessment program in cooperation with UNDP and OHCHR. During the reporting period the APF conducted four capacity assessments with the: Nepal Human Rights Commission National Human Rights Commission of Bangladesh Samoan Ombudsman and National Institution, and Oman Human Rights Commission. The challenges associated with this project continue to be its sustainability in terms of funding and expertise and the OHCHR/UNDP partnership. The next steps associated with this project will be the publication of the revised capacity assessment manual. Training The APF s training program will see the APF conducting a total of 17 training programs throughout the year on issues such as the prevention of torture, migrant workers rights, how to run a national inquiry, a foundation course for new NHRI staff, library and information systems, media and communications skills, how to investigate human rights violations and a train the trainer course to increase the range of APF accredited trainers across all APF member institutions. In addition, during the year the APF developed additional training resources including manuals on Human Rights Investigation Techniques, Human Rights Education, and Media and Communications Skills. The challenges associated with this work include servicing the increasing membership of the APF. The APF s train the trainer program continues to produce good APF accredited trainers and we are hopeful that an increase in the number of APF trainers will enable us to adequately service our members. The next steps of this project will see the APF continue to expand the number of training programs it runs and training manuals. A significant addition to our training APF Regional Highlights 2

3 will be a course and manual on Women s Human Rights. This was one of our region s direct commitments following the recommendations of the ICC International Conference in Jordan and the Amman Declaration. Specialist Capacity Projects Within available resources, the APF responds to requests from individual member institutions for the delivery of specialist capacity projects. During the last year the APF: Conducted high level dialogues to discuss governance and operational issues with the new Chairs and Commissioners in the (i) Samoan National Human Rights Institution (ii) the National Human Rights Commission of Indonesia and (iii) the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia. In April, we will conduct a high level dialogue with the Commissioners of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights; Facilitated a strategic planning exercise for the Myanmar Human Rights Commission; and Facilitated a study visit between the Malaysian and Indian Human Rights Commissions. Another strategic objective of the APF is to enhance our member s communication, cooperation and engagement. Under this objective the APF undertakes (i) an annual meeting (ii) regional conferences and (iii) supports a Senior Executive Officer network. The 18 th annual meeting and biennial conference of the APF was hosted by my institution, the Qatar Human Rights Committee, in Doha, Qatar in October. The meeting was attended by over 150 representatives from NHRIs, governments, civil society organisations and UN agencies from across the Asia Pacific region. A significant regional meeting on the Paris Principles was hosted by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea in. A regional meeting on the possible development of a UN Convention on the Rights of Older persons will be hosted by the Australian Human Rights Commission in in May. Finally the Senior Executive Officer network will also meet in Australia in June. This will be supplemented by a working group of APF members to assist in the development of the APF s new strategic plan which will commence from 1 July A list of APF activities is available to interested ICC Bureau members. Thank you for your attention. APF Regional Highlights 3

4 APF ACTIVITIES JULY to JUNE DATE ACTIVITY LOCATION 2 to 22 July JULY Capacity Assessment, Nepal Human Rights Commission Kathmandu and regional offices, Nepal 8 to 12 July 15 to 19 July 29 July to 2 August ICC-OHCHR-UNDP Tripartite Meeting and NHRI-UN General Assembly Advocacy High Level Dialogue, Samoan NHRI National Inquiries Training, Philippines Commission on Human Rights New York, United States Apia, Samoa Manila, Philippines 5 to 9 August APF audit AUGUST 5 to 9 12 to to 17 SEPTEMBER Strategic Planning, Myanmar Human Rights Commission International Conference on the Paris Principles, National Human Rights Commission of Korea High Level Dialogue, National Human Rights Commission of Indonesia Yangon, Myanmar Seoul, Korea Bogor, Indonesia 18 to 20 High Level Dialogue, Human Rights Commission of Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1 to 3 October OCTOBER 18 th APF Annual Meeting and Biennial Conference Doha, Qatar 14 October to 3 28 October to 1 RWI-APF on-line foundation course training OPCAT and NPM training, Mongolian Human Rights Commission Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia APF Regional Highlights 4

5 4 to 7 11 to to to to 5 December NOVEMBER Regional Dialogue on Women s Rights in ASEAN European Network of NHRIs Strategic Planning ICC Sub-Committee on Accreditation ICC Bureau RWI-APF Regional NHRI Foundation Training Jakarta, Indonesia Budapest, Hungary Geneva, Switzerland Accra, Ghana Bangkok, Thailand 2 to 11 December 16 to 20 December DECEMBER Capacity Assessment, National Human Rights Commission of Bangladesh Study Visit, National Human Rights Commission of Malaysia to the National Human Rights Commission of India Dhaka, Bangladesh 13 to 15 January JANUARY Capacity Assessment Preliminary Visit, Oman Human Rights Commission Muscat, Oman 22 to 24 January Pacific Parliamentarians Meeting Auckland, New Zealand 27 January to 28 February West Asia Torture prevention on-lion training 10 to 14 February 10 to 14 February FEBRUARY National Inquiries training, National Human Rights Commission of Indonesia APF 20 Annual Meeting preparatory meeting Bogor, Indonesia APF Regional Highlights 5

6 13 to 21 February 17 February to 16 March Capacity Assessment, Samoan NHRI Pilot Media and Communications on-line training Apia, Samoa 2 to 13 March 12 to 14 March 17 to 21 March 17 to 21 March 24 March to 28 April 24 to 29 March MARCH Capacity Assessment, Oman Human Rights Commission ICC Bureau and Annual Meeting ICC Sub-Committee on Accreditation APF fundraising Pilot Investigations on-line training West Asia Torture Prevention face-to-face training Muscat, Oman Geneva, Switzerland Geneva, Switzerland Europe Amman, Jordan 1 to 4 April 7 to 10 April 10 to 13 April 24 to 26 April APRIL National Inquiries training, National Human Rights Commission of Bangladesh Media and Communications face-to-face training Business and Human Rights and National Action Plans workshops High Level Dialogue, Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights Dhaka, Bangladesh Male, Maldives Ramallah, Palestine 13 to 15 May MAY Age Convention regional workshop 19 to 22 May Investigations face-to-face training Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2 to 6 June APF fundraising JUNE United States APF Regional Highlights 6

7 9 to 13 June 9 to 13 June 23 to 24 June 26 to 27 June ICC-UNDP-OHCHR annual meeting Master Trainers and Human Rights Education workshop Senior Executive Officer Network Strategic Planning Forum Council Working Group New York, United States APF Regional Highlights 7