SUHAKAM is an active participant in the various global and regional networks of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs). We continue to play our part in mending the gap between international human rights agreements and policies legislated and enforced by the national government. We maintain our networks with other ASEAN countries and seek each other out for support and assistance whenever we are able to render it. It is becoming increasingly clear that rigid limitations of national boundaries no longer confine migration matters, the environment, oppression of certain ethnic or religious groups and many other issues. We believe that, through the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), we should be able to access and pursue human rights across borders and as a regionally collaborative effort. Only in doing so can we truly live up to the sobriquet of a people-centred ASEAN. In this vein, SUHAKAM has engaged with a number of religious institutions and organisations to discuss commonalities between the principles of human rights and religious concepts of justice. Human rights defenders in Malaysia would seem to be locked in constant tension with religion. The claim that human rights are a western agenda is an all-too-familiar accusation. There is still much to do in educating the population on the impact that human rights have on their dignity and livelihood, as well as their quality of life. In this vein, SUHAKAM has engaged with a number of religious institutions and organisations to discuss commonalities between the principles of human rights and religious concepts of justice. We are proud to say that the brickwork has been laid for future partnerships, beginning with the inclusion of human rights in Friday prayer sermons in a handful of mosques but this will be an uphill task. There remains, also, the conundrum of harmonising efforts between federal and state governments, particularly on so-called sensitive issues such as child marriage and Orang Asli land rights. The rigours of convincing the federal government to accede to human rights treaties are not the end of the battle for SUHAKAM – it continues in persuading the 13 state governments to ensure successful implementation, enforcement as well as monitoring of these commitments. x SUHAKAM ANNUAL REPORT 2018