APF members elected a new five-member Governance Committee at the annual meeting which, for the first-time in the organisation's 25-year history, was held online.

The new APF leadership team includes:

• Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher; President, Australian Human Rights Commission APF Chairperson
• Ms Young-ae Choi; Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of Korea APF Deputy Chairperson
• Justice H. L. Dattu; Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of India
• Tan Sri Othman Hashim; Chairperson, Human Rights Commission of Malaysia
• Dr. Mohammed Al-Kuwari; Deputy Chairperson, National Human Rights Committee of Qatar

The role of the five-member APF Governance Committee is to consider and make recommendations to the APF General Assembly on a range of issues.

Members of the Governance Committee are elected for a two-year term.

In addition, APF members voted for the National Human Rights Commission of India to host the APF's 26th Annual Meeting and Biennial Conference in 2021.

The APF's 25th Annual Meeting, held on 9 September 2020, included video presentations from the:

• APF Chairperson on key achievements and emerging issues during the past year
• APF Gender Focal Point on NHRI efforts to promote gender equality in their work
• Chairperson of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission on the killing of Commission staff members
• OHCHR South East Asia Representative on NHRIs and humanitarian action.

The Acting Chairperson of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, Dr Ali Bin Samikh Al Marri, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Committee of Qatar, also addressed the APF Annual Meeting.

"Despite the annual meeting being a virtual event, APF members showed the same high levels of collegiality and cooperation," Kieren Fitzpatrick, Director of the APF secretariat, said.

"However, we are all hopeful we will all be able to meet in person again in India next year," he said.

"We are also looking forward to supporting our members in the months ahead as they meet the unfolding challenges of upholding human rights during the COVID-19 pandemic."