A Manual on National Human Rights Institutions At the global level, the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (ICC) was established about the time of the Vienna World Conference, meeting for the first time in the margins of the Conference. Various regional associations were also established and have developed at different rates. The Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF) was established in 1996 with its own secretariat, based in Sydney, Australia, and a program of capacity building for its members and activities for its own development. The APF now has 24 members, of which 15 are fully compliant with the Paris Principles and the remaining nine are moving towards full compliance.29 The other regional associations are the: • European Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions • Network of African National Human Rights Institutions30 • Network of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights of the Americas.31 KEY POINTS: CHAPTER 1 • The implementation of international human rights obligations is the responsibility of each State. • NHRIs are one of the most significant and most effective means by which States meet that responsibility. • Since the late 1940s, the UN system has encouraged the establishment of NHRIs, leading to strong endorsement by the Second World Conference on Human Rights in 1993 in its Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. • NHRIs themselves are subject to international standards set out in the Paris Principles. 10 29 For APF members and their compliance status, see www.asiapacificforum.net/members/. 30 Established in October 2007, succeeding the Coordinating Committee of African NHRIs set up in 1996. It has a permanent secretariat located in Nairobi, Kenya. 31 Established in 2000.