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New team leads APF outreach in West Asia

Graphic: Staff of the APF sub-regional office and the APF secretariat

A team of four in the APF’s sub-regional office in Qatar will lead a wide-ranging program of work in 2020 to support NHRIs in West Asia.

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A newly appointed team of four staff members in the APF's sub-regional office in Qatar will lead a wide-ranging program of work in 2020 to support national human rights institutions in West Asia.

Ms Ameera Al-Hedfa, Director, will lead the work of the sub-regional office. She will be supported by Jessica Elmelhem, Expert Human Rights Officer; Hamad Al-Hasan, Programe Officer; and Nawal Fettouhi, Coordination and Communication Officer.

The first major activity will be to host a workshop in January 2020 on the international accreditation process for national human rights institutions.

"This is an exciting initiative that will provide APF members with practical information to strengthen their institutions," Ms Al-Hedfa said.

"We are delighted to host the workshop here and we look forward to implementing more programs in partnership with our colleagues at the APF secretariat," she said.


Graphic: Participants at a 2016 workshop on migrant workers' rights hosted by the APF sub-regional office


In November, Ms Kate Turner-Mann and Ms Faso Aishath from the APF secretariat met with the APF sub-regional office team in Doha to help plan the program of activities for 2020.

This will include the delivery of capacity development activities for staff of national human rights institutions in West Asia, as well as building a digital library of APF resources in Arabic.

"It is important that APF members have access to the information and support they need so they can be effective in their work to promote and protect human rights," APF Regional Training Manager Kate Turner-Mann said.

"A strong and energetic sub-regional office will be of enormous value to APF members in West Asia, as well as governments and civil society."

In addition to their work with APF members, Ms Al-Hedfa and her team will support Dr Ali Bin Samikh Al-Marri, Chairperson of the Qatar National Human Rights Committee, in his role as Deputy Chairperson of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI).

Established in 2016, the APF sub-regional office has organised Arabic-language workshops on the role and functions of NHRIs, protecting the rights of migrant workers and advancing gender equality, as well as hosting a high-level roundtable on GANHRI statute changes.

The sub-regional office also provided generous assistance to support the development of an Arabic-language version of the APF website.

Date: 15 November 2019


Image credits

  1. Staff of the APF sub-regional office and the APF secretariat - APF
  2. Participants at a 2016 workshop on migrant workers' rights hosted by the APF sub-regional office - APF