Part III The practice: What NHRIs can do to contribute to the process of change Section I Getting ready to engage • Amend the founding statute of the NHRI, if necessary and if part of the designated framework, to remove any obstacles to it assuming this role and/or to clarify specifically its role in relation to the Convention and to empower it to carry out this role effectively • Provide additional, adequate resources to assume the role of independent mechanism, including administrative and program-related costs • Create a new body, where necessary, capable of meeting the principles relating to the establishment and functioning of national institutions for the protection and promotion of human rights, including through the reform or integration of existing institutions. 250 THE PROCESS OF DESIGNATING THE INDEPENDENT MECHANISM • The Government of the United Kingdom laid an ‘Explanatory Memorandum’ before Parliament on the occasion of ratifying the UN CRPD in July 2009, which detailed the ‘independent mechanisms’ under article 33(2). These arrangements had been previously agreed with the four designated organisations (the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Scottish Human Rights Commission, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland). The Government did not, however, consult with persons with disabilities before determining the independent mechanisms for the United Kingdom and nor were any of the designated organisations provided with any general increase in funding to assume this role.250 • On ratifying the UN CRPD in 2009, the Danish Government also laid an explanatory memorandum before the Danish Parliament stating that “the Ministry for the Interior and Social Affairs will initiate a study in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance to determine how the existing structures in the field may be developed to conduct monitoring of the implementation of the Convention. Finally, the Government will continue the cooperation with the organisations who represent persons with disabilities” (Parliamentary Decision B194/2009). Following an examination of the different options for a framework under article 33(2) and discussions in the Intra-Ministerial Committee on Civil Servants on Disability Matters, the Ministry for Social Affairs formulated a Proposal for a Parliamentary Decision on “the promotion, protection and monitoring of the implementation of the UN Disability Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”, which was adopted on 17 December 2010. The Parliamentary Decision appointed the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) with the task to “promote, protect and monitor the implementation of the CRPD”. Although the concept of ‘independent mechanism’ is not mentioned specifically in the Parliamentary Decision, it is clear from the wording that the DIHR has the leading role and is the independent mechanism. The explanatory note to the Parliamentary Decision provides that the Danish Institute for Human Rights, the Danish Disability Council and the Parliamentary Ombudsman constitute the framework to promote, protect and monitor the Convention. The DIHR has also been provided with approximately 620,000 Euros annually to carry out this task. 250 Discussed in OHCHR/G. De Beco, ‘Implementation of Article 33 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Europe’, 2013; available at http://europe.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/Art_33_CRPD_study.pdf. Chapter 7: The institutional architecture for change and the place of NHRIs | 99