27th APF Annual General Meeting

The 27th APF Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held virtually on the 14th and 15th of September 2022, bringing together APF member institutions as well as observer representatives from other National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in the Asia Pacific region. 

The first session, held on the 14th of September, focused on the theme “A universal human right to a healthy, sustainable environment – the role of NHRIs”, and included a presentation by Dr Ian Fry, Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in the context of Climate Change. 

This was followed by an interactive dialogue between APF members, providing an opportunity for participants to share their work in responding to the human rights impacts of environmental degradation and climate change. 

The second session, held on the 15th of September, addressed business items including the presentation of the APF’s annual performance and gender performance reports, and elections for a range of representative positions.  

APF members elected Doo-Hwan Song, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea as the new APF Chairperson. He will lead the APF Governance Committee for the next two years. 

He will be joined on the APF Governance Committee by Khunan Jargalsaikhan, Chief Commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission of Mongolia (as APF Deputy Chairperson) and Justice Arun Kumar Mishra, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of India (as Member). 

APF Members also elected the Australian Human Rights Commission and the National Human Rights Commission of India as APF representatives to the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) Bureau.  

The New Zealand Human Rights Commission was elected as the APF representative to the GANHRI Sub-Committee on Accreditation (SCA). 

The APF 27th Annual General Meeting papers are available below.   

Date: 26 September 2022 

Elections to APF and GANHRI-related roles

APF Governance Committee 

The APF received the following three nominations:

• Doo-Hwan Song, Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of Korea (male)
• Khunan Jargalsaikhan, Chief Commissioner, National Human Rights Commission of Mongolia (male)
• Justice Arun Kuma Mishra, Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of India (male)

GANHRI Bureau

The APF received the following four nominations:

• Rosalind Croucher, President, Australian Human Rights Commission (female)
• Doo-Hwan Song, Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of Korea (male)
• Justice Arun Kuma Mishra, Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of India (male)
• Dr Sunjid Dugar, Commissioner, National Human Rights Commission of Mongolia (female)

GANHRI SCA

The APF received the following three nominations:

• John Hancock, Chief Legal Adviser, New Zealand Human Rights Commission (male)
• Justice Arun Kuma Mishra, Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of India (male)
• Narantunya Ganbat, Commissioner, National Human Rights Commission of Mongolia (female)