Kieren Fitzpatrick, APF Secretariat

From humble beginnings in 1996, when four national human rights institutions met in a cramped room in Darwin, the APF has grown rapidly in its size and diversity.

Today the APF is made up of 17 member institutions, stretching from Palestine in the west, across Asia and down to the Pacific. That number is soon expected to expand to 20.

Kieren Fitzpatrick, Director of the APF Secretariat since its inception, says the key to the organisation’s growth and development is the commitment, cooperation and energy of its members.

“The APF is the most developed of the four regional networks of NHRIs and we have the most advanced level of cooperation between our members,” he says. 

“In addition to our regional cooperation, APF members have also worked together to drive important developments at the international level that benefit NHRIs in all parts of the world.”

A prime example, Kieren says, was the APF’s lobbying efforts during the drafting of the new UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.

“This human rights treaty – the most advanced of its type – specifically recognises the critical importance of having independent national bodies, operating in accordance with the Paris Principles, to be involved in its domestic implementation and monitoring.

“Without our advocacy, which was led by the National Human Rights Commission of India, that provision wouldn’t be in the Convention.

“And in 2007 the APF’s lobbying efforts were crucial in achieving participation rights for all NHRIs in the UN Human Rights Council, an outcome which NHRIs had been fighting to achieve for many, many years.”

Challenges

While the increasing size and diversity of the APF’s membership is a sign of its success, it also creates a challenge in delivering training and services to meet the disparate needs of member institutions, which operate in a wide range of political and human rights environments and are at different stages of development.

To cope with demand, APF training programs in human rights protection, promotion and monitoring are now delivered on a sub-regional, rather than a national, basis, says Kieren, and it is likely that sub-regional offices of the APF will be established in the future to provide further tailored support to member institutions.

“I believe this is a step that the APF will need to take in the coming years. It will transform how we operate and allow us to better support and strengthen our growing membership,” he says

“With a small number of dedicated staff in each sub-regional office we could provide much more focused and intensive services for the NHRIs in that sub-region, as well as the provision of advice and support to governments considering the establishment of independent NHRIs."

Relationships

According to Kieren, one of the hallmarks of the APF has been the strength, quality and integrity of the relationships between member institutions.

“Back in the early years, it was easy for APF members to develop personal relationships, have free and open exchanges and come to a shared understanding of what the APF should be and do,” he says.

“My concern is that we may have lost some of that in recent years. Partly that’s a result of the rapid growth in our membership and the increased scope and complexity of APF operations and the need to spend more time discussing corporate governance issues.”

At the next Annual Meeting in August, the Forum Council will consider a proposal to separate the APF’s Annual Business Meeting and its Annual Conference, with the latter to become a biennial event. If adopted, this new format would begin in 2010.

“The idea is to get back to the original purpose of our Annual Meeting: to provide members with the opportunity to discuss the work and direction of the APF, to share experiences and to build relationships with each other,” says Kieren.

“There would still be administrative work to do but the goal is to provide a space, removed from a busy conference agenda, where our members can discuss the issues that are important to them and how they can support and assist each other in their work.”

Privilege

With more than 10 years in the position, Kieren describes his work with the APF as a ‘rare privilege’.

“I take a lot of personal satisfaction from the work of the APF and the individual member institutions. I’m motivated by those basic principles of seeking fairness and equity for people, the rule of law and working towards a more level playing field,” he says.

“I also take a lot of satisfaction from the fact that the APF has been a trailblazer in many different areas.”

But, he adds, this is only possible because of the strong and generous commitment of its members.

“Their advocacy, their fund-raising efforts and the provision of their staff on a pro bono basis to run training programs or to be involved in advocacy work – this allows us to do considerably more and to achieve practical outcomes that much larger organisations can’t match.

“Our members recognise that effective NHRIs learn from, adapt and build on their own experiences and those of others. They understand how crucial it is to share knowledge and ideas to improve the capacity of their own institutions and, more broadly, in the promotion and protection of human rights across the region.”