– The next strategy establishes a new vision that will make the Global Alliance more powerful and influential
– the Global Alliance becomes an effective and influential international forum in the eyes of governments, peoples and human rights actors
– GANHRI seeks to support and prompt national human rights institutions to upgrade their international accreditation in accordance with the Paris Principles
– 72 national human rights institutions across the world are classified according to the Paris Principles
– We seek to increase the number of national human rights institutions accredited A status
– we urge governments to establish new national human rights institutions in countries where they do not exist
– we encourage the involvement of national institutions in the global alliance, regardless of the level of accreditation
– We call upon the governments to support the independence and effectiveness of human rights institutions
– There is a need for a unified vision of the various national human rights institutions that are part of the global alliance
– There is an urgent need for national human rights institutions to speak in a single voice in various international forums
New York: Tuesday, June 18, 2019
Dr. Ali bin Smaikh Al-Marri, chairman of National Human Rights Committee (NHRC), and secretary general and vice president of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), said that the new strategic plan (2020-2022) of the Alliance shall establish the power of influence and persuasion among governments, peoples and competent parties in various international platforms, in order to strengthen the unity and effectiveness of national human rights institutions affiliated to the Global Alliance, and encouraging them to upgrade their accreditation according to the Paris Principles.
Dr. Al-Marri said that the new strategic plan of the Alliance will encourage and support the establishment of new national human rights institutions in countries where they do not exist, calling at the same time on governments and countries of the world to strengthen the independence and functions of national human rights institutions and to remove various obstacles to the implementation of their functions and visions. This came during the two-day consultative meeting of GANHRI which was held in New York aimed at developing the new strategic plan (2020-2022), which will be submitted for adoption at the next General Assembly in spring 2020 in Geneva.
During the meeting, which were attended by GANHRI chairperson Dr. Carlos Alfonso Negret Mosquera, Defensor del Pueblo of Colombia, and heads and coordinators of the regional networks of national human rights institutions across the world, focused on assessing the performance of the Global Alliance over the past period, identifying the restrictions and challenges facing it or impeding the achievement of its goals in the past, and the goals that the it aspires to achieve in the future, and then determining which strategy should be developed to achieve that goals in the coming period.
In his speech during the meeting, Dr. Al-Marri said that the first meeting of its kind of the new leadership of the Global Alliance bet on being more effective and persuasive through the implementation of a new strategy over the next three years aimed at enhancing the role and position of the Global Alliance, and then the role of the national human rights institutions affiliated to the Alliance, noting the importance of the strong presence of the various representatives of national human rights institutions at the New York consultative meeting in order to assess past experiences, identify successes and failures, propose solutions and share experiences and problems facing national institutions and the Global Alliance as a whole.
“Everyone agrees that one of the priorities of the next strategy is to define a new vision for communication, with the aim of introducing the Global Alliance and its tasks and vision in strengthening the independence of national human rights institutions and supporting them to achieve their tasks in various countries of the world”, Dr. Al-Marri said. In the same context, Al Marri stressed the need for national human rights institutions within the framework of the Global Alliance to agree on a unified vision that boosts its strength, presence and its persuasive power and to have a single voice in its meetings with the European Union, the United Nations and governments and in various international platforms.
The GANHRI secretary general and vice president also underlined that the new tripartite strategy, if adopted, would support and strengthen national human rights institutions and raise its international classification in accordance with the Paris Principles, pointing out that the Global Alliance currently includes 72 national institutions accredited status (A) in compliance with the Paris Principles, expressing hope to increase the number of these institutions that obtain the same accreditation through the next Strategic Plan (2020-2022), and support national institutions with other statuses to improve their performance and classification.
Al Marri urged national human rights institutions to participate and involve in in the Global Alliance, regardless of their accreditation status, pointing out that GANHRI supports national institutions and their efforts to upgrade their accreditation in accordance with the Paris Principles. National institutions’ failure to obtain status (A) is not a barrier to its involvement in the Global Alliance , as the GANHRI is a mechanism to help and support NHRIs to perform their functions and improve their accreditation, Al Marri underlined.
Dr. Al-Marri also urged governments of the world to support and strengthen the independence of national human rights institutions, establish new national institutions in countries where they do not exist and strengthen existing ones so that they can perform their functions and upgrade their accreditation in accordance with the Paris Principles.