APF charts path forward to 2015

To keep pace with the demands of a growing membership and increased request for services, the APF will undertake a study to examine how best it can support member institutions and other stakeholders across the Asia Pacific region.

Over the next year a five-member panel, made up of APF Forum Councillors representing each sub-region, will oversee a feasibility study that will explore a range of options, such as establishing sub-regional offices or basing APF Secretariat staff within member institutions in different sub-regions.

The goal is to ensure the APF can deliver tailored and holistic training programs for member institutions, bolster opportunities for peer-to-peer networking and provide responsive advisory services.

The decision to proceed with the study was one of a number of outcomes from the APF’s 15th Annual Meeting (APF 15), hosted by the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission and held in Bali from 3 – 5 August 2010.

A key focus of discussions was a proposed five year strategic plan to guide the organisation from 2011 to 2015, which was approved by Forum Councillors.

As part of the strategic plan, the APF will seek to enhance its training services by expanding and accrediting a broader pool of APF trainers and assisting member institutions to develop ‘in house’ training strategies.

It will also ensure that a ‘gender specific’ focus is applied and documented across all of its key projects.

Other decisions taken at APF 15 included:

• establishing focal points within participating NHRIs on the issue of migrant workers
• requesting the APF’s representatives on the ICC Bureau (India, Jordan, Malaysia and New Zealand) to raise the viability of establishing an ICC Working Group on Migrant Workers
• continuing advocacy efforts for ‘A’ status national human rights institutions to have full participation rights at the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

Presentations

This year’s annual meeting included presentations from a number of invited organisations, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Development Program, the ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights and the Asian NGOs Network on National Human Rights Institutions.

Reports were also presented on the upcoming review of the UN Human Rights Council and its implications for national human rights institutions, along with an overview of activities of the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions (delivered by ICC Chair and Chief Commissioner of the New Zealand Human Rights Commission, Rosslyn Noonan).

A panel discussion looked at issues facing national human rights institutions during the ICC’s accreditation process, with a number of substantive recommendations made for consideration by the ICC.

Another panel discussion, featuring speakers from Australia, India and Korea, highlighted how national human rights institutions can bring about substantial change by using their power to act as amicus curiae (or ‘friend of the court’) in court proceedings that raise important human rights questions.

Finally, the Advisory Council of Jurists presented its preliminary findings and recommendations on a reference, adopted by the APF Forum Council in 2009, on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.

The ACJ, an independent group of eminent jurists from across the Asia Pacific, outlined a broad range of practical steps that national human rights institutions could take to better promote and protect the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

New format

This year’s Annual Meeting was attended by representatives from all 17 APF member institutions, along with representatives from the newly-established national human rights institutions of Bahrain, Bangladesh and Oman, who attended as Observers.

Following a decision taken by the APF Forum Council in 2009, this year’s Annual Meeting was separated from the APF Conference. The two events had previously been held together.

The APF Conference, which brings together a wide range of stakeholders, will be held in conjunction with the APF Annual Meeting on a biennial basis from 2011.

Next year’s Annual Meeting and Conference will be held in Bangkok and hosted by the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand.

Read more

• Meeting papers, presentations and member reports from the APF 15th Annual Meeting