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Collaboration between NHRIs and regional inter-governmental mechanisms

Regional engagement

In the Asia Pacific, many pressing human rights issues—like climate change, public health crises, migrant worker rights, and human trafficking—cross national borders.

Unlike other regions of the world, however, the Asia Pacific lacks a region-wide intergovernmental system to safeguard human rights. This highlights the need for strong collaboration among institutions with a responsibility to develop policies or take action on human rights issues.

To address this, our Inter-governmental Mechanisms (IGM) Project, funded by the European Union, fostered dialogue between NHRIs and regional IGMs, providing a platform for discussing human rights, climate change, and the environment, and exploring opportunities for collaboration.

Through dialogue and collaborative actions, NHRIs and IGMs shared their expertise and developed strategies to improve lives and build resilient communities.

What are international or regional human rights frameworks without them having meaning on the ground, in our countries? This is a question we have to deal with"

Romulo Nayacalevu, APF Lead Facilitator for the Pacific

  • In the Pacific, the IGM Project incorporated a 'talanoa' approach—a cultural practice of sharing stories—to build trust and encourage open communication.

Building collaboration between NHRIs and intergovernmental mechanisms

Through the Project, we facilitated engagement between NHRIs in South-East Asia and the Pacific with representatives from their respective IGMs: the ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).

In South-East Asia, the project involved the NHRIs of Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Timor Leste.

In the Pacific, the NHRIs of Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa and Tuvalu took part in the project.

Building partnerships for human rights

As part of the multi-year initiative, we achieved the following:

  • Established online communities of practice for NHRIs to discuss effective strategies for engaging with their IGMs.
  • Developed and implemented blended learning courses on environmental rights and climate change for NHRIs.
  • Supported NHRIs in conducting national research and stakeholder consultations on environmental rights and climate change, through a small grants program.
  • Facilitated roundtable dialogues, bringing together NHRIs and IGMs, with a focus on environmental rights and climate change.
  • Developed a joint outcomes paper on environmental rights and climate change, in collaboration with NHRIs and regional IGMs.

By bringing together representatives from NHRIs and IGMs, we built recognition of the unique and complementary roles that both play in promoting and protecting human rights.

This collaboration fostered a shared understanding of how to address region-wide human rights issues effectively. Additionally, we identified opportunities for joint efforts between NHRIs and IGMs on issues of shared concern.

The initiative generated positive sentiment about the value of collaboration and led to a commitment to ongoing dialogue in support of future joint initiatives.

  • As part of the IGM Project, South-East Asian NHRIs actively participated in the AICHR Regional Consultation on Business and Human Rights, Environment and Climate Change in ASEAN.

Continued collaboration for change

As a result of the project:

  • Relationships between NHRIs and IGMs were either established or strengthened, where previously there had been limited connection.
  • Collaborative efforts were initiated at the national level in several countries.
  • Both NHRIs and IGMs in the Pacific and Southeast Asia expressed a strong interest in continuing dialogue on human rights, climate change, and environmental issues.

To support ongoing engagement, the APF developed guiding principles for NHRI interactions with intergovernmental mechanisms, detailed in a policy paper created for this project.

Advancing human rights in our region