ASIA PACIFIC FORUM OF NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS [We have] benefited a great deal from the efforts and activities of the APF, especially the capacity building programmes, as well as the array of manuals developed by the APF on various human rights thematic issues, which have served as valuable sources of reference for the Commission. NATIONAL COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS OF INDONESIA SOURCE: APF MEMBER SURVEY 2015 IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS In March 2015, 16 of the 17 APF members that had undertaken capacity assessments were asked for the first time to report comprehensively on their progress in implementing the proposed strategies that they had accepted. Eleven (69%) provided reports, which was a high response rate given the detailed scope of the questionnaire. The capacity assessment reports to those 11 NHRIs contained 243 recommendations. As independent NHRIs, they are free to accept each recommendation fully or in part or to reject it. All but three of the 243 recommendations were accepted by the NHRIs concerned.2 The very low rejection rate indicates that the overwhelming majority of recommendations are considered relevant, appropriate and achievable. Of the remained 240 recommendations, 90 were reported as “complete”, 136 were “in progress” and 14 were “not started”. The completion rate is far higher for NHRIs that undertook a capacity assessment before 2013, which is to be expected. Among this group, almost half the recommendations have been completed.3 The high completion rate indicates that the capacity assessments are effective in building the capacity of participating members. The even higher “in progress” rate reflects the commitment of APF members to pursue implementation of the recommendations. Reasons given for the large number of recommendations still “in progress”, include: • That the recommendations relate to the continuing work of the NHRI, such as human rights education or complaint handling, and so they can never be truly “completed” 12 • That the NHRI sees completion as depending on some factor outside its control; for example, changes to its founding legislation. • Inadequate financial resources, which means implementation has to be staged over a period of time. Where implementation has “not started”, the reason was generally a lack of financial or staff resources for the task. As a further measure of implementation capacity, the APF will track member efforts to enact or amend laws to promote and protect human rights. An analysis of data drawn from three NHRI re-accreditation applications finalised in the reporting year provides evidence of a very active role in promoting the ratification of international human rights treaties and the enactment of domestic laws to address a wide range of human rights issues, including torture, human trafficking, children’s rights, disability rights and economic, social and cultural rights. FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CAPACITY ASSESSMENT PROGRAM In 2014–15, two APF members – the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka and the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines – invited the APF to assist them review progress in implementing the recommendations from the capacity assessment they had previously undertaken. These visits have led to progress reports that have again been the subject of discussion with UNDP Country Offices. Based on the value of these two reviews, the APF will offer similar support to other members that have undertaken capacity assessments. 2 The three rejections were due to lack of financial resources for implementation or the action being no longer relevant or being considered unnecessary. 3 44% compared with 9%.