15th APF Annual Meeting, 2010

The National Human Rights Commission of Indonesia recently hosted the APF's 15th Annual Meeting, which was held in Bali from 3 – 5 August 2010.

This year's Annual Meeting was attended by representatives from all 17 APF member institutions.

Representatives from the newly-established national human rights institutions of Bahrain, Bangladesh and Oman attended the meeting as Observers, along with representatives from:

• Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
• United Nations Development Programme
• ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights
• Asian NGOs Network on National Human Rights Institutions.

These organisations updated APF members with information on international, regional and sub-regional developments that assisted the APF in framing its strategic objectives and direction.

This year's Annual Meeting also included focused discussion on:

• The draft APF Strategic Plan for 2011-2015
• The review of the ICC accreditation process and General Observations
• Thematic issues of common concern to APF members.

New format

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 to discuss human rights issues in the Asia Pacific region, will be held in conjunction with the APF annual meeting on a biennial basis from 2011.

This approach aims to refocus the annual meetings on their original purpose: to provide APF members with the opportunity to discuss the work and direction of the organisation, to share experiences and to develop and build relationships between peer institutions.

Sexual orientation and gender identity

In conjunction with the annual meeting, the APF's Advisory Council of Jurists considered a reference on domestic laws and policies relating to sexual orientation and gender identity in the countries of the APF's 17 member institutions.

The ACJ was asked to provide advice and recommendations on the question of the consistency of domestic legislation with international human rights law.

Senior Executive Officers

In addition, a meeting of Senior Executive Officers from APF member institutions was held to discuss their role in helping assist with the implementation of the APF's Strategic Plan.