Introduction Support for gender equality is a critical aspect of the work of national human rights institutions (‘NHRIs’) globally. In the Asia Pacific region, NHRIs have achieved significant progress in addressing the rights of women and girls, both in collective regional efforts and their respective national contexts. A 2024 Gender Baseline Assessment conducted by the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (‘APF’), which examines the work of Asia Pacific NHRIs on gender equality, explains that: NHRIs are actively advocating for legislation repeal and/or development, facilitating awareness activities, receiving and addressing complaints, working alongside civil society organisations, and engaging with the international human rights community.1 This work is often anchored in the framework of the international human rights system, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women,2 among other international and regional human rights instruments. The approach of NHRIs on gender diversity and representation is also guided by the United Nations Principles relating to the status of national institutions,3 known popularly as the ‘Paris Principles’, which are the international standards for the mandate and performance of NHRIs. This paper will consider how the Paris Principles standards have evolved to support and address gender equality and related human rights in the structures, mandates, and practice of NHRIs in the Asia Pacific region. The international accreditation of NHRI compliance with the Paris Principles, which is undertaken by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (‘GANHRI’) and its subcommittee on accreditation (‘SCA’), offers insight into the application and development of the Paris Principles standards in practice. This paper will also consider the jurisprudence of the SCA in its assessment of gender-based standards in the Paris Principles, highlighting examples of positive impact on gender performance in different national contexts, while at the same time identifying space for further improvements. Gender and the Paris Principles The Paris Principles are a unique instrument in the international human rights framework. Unlike most international human rights treaties and soft law instruments, the Paris Principles standards began their development with limited state or government involvement. They were established in 1991 by representatives of NHRIs to define what those NHRIs considered to be the essential ingredients of an independent and effective national institution for the protection and promotion of human rights.4 The Paris Principles’ legal authority arises from their subsequent appearance as an annex to the 1993 United Nations General Assembly Resolution 48/134, which followed their adoption (unamended) at the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights. 5 The relative absence of state involvement in the initial development of the Paris Principles affirms their institutional 1 Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions, Gender Baseline Assessment of National Human Rights Institutions in the Asia Pacific Region (July 2024) (‘Gender Baseline Assessment’) 6. 2 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, opened for signature 1 March 1980, 1249 UNTS 13 (3 September 1981); see also ibid 15. 3 National institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights, GA Res 48/134, UN Doc A/RES/48/134 (20 December 1993), annex (‘Principles relating to the status of national institutions’). 4 For further background on the International Workshop on National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, see: Gauthier de Beco and Rachel Murray, A Commentary on the Paris Principles on National Human Rights Institutions (Cambridge University Press, 2014) 3-19; Brian Burdekin and Jason Naum, National Human Rights Institutions in the Asia Pacific Region (Martinus Nijhoff, 2007). 5 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, Adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna on 25 June 1993, UN Doc A/CONF.157/24, page 30, para 36. 2 Gender Equality and the Paris Principles