establish a continuous training plan for its
employees.
4. Establishment of divisional offices:
The NHRC has only one officelocated in the
capital Dhaka which is running under rental
basis. That means NHRC has no its own
building for office. The NHRC acknowledges
that this office is not easily accessible to the
broader population, including persons with
disabilities. To enhance accessibility to the
services of the NHRC, the NHRC intends to
establish regional offices in all divisions of
the country within 2016.
5.
Financial
management:
Independence
and
An NHRI should have control over its
finances and how they may be used. The
NHRC must be provided with an appropriate
level of funding in order to guarantee its
ability to freely determine its priorities and
activities.
The parliament should approve the budget
(and not a part of the executive branch of
the government such as ministries). The
NHRC intends that a human rights budget
for NHRC be added in the national budget
just like newly added children budget.
Exclusion of NHRC’s annual expenses from
national budget has been marked as
negligence of the government to the
Commission. The SCA emphasizes that
government funding should be allocated in
a separate budget line item applicable only
to the NHRC. Such funding should be
regularly released and in a manner that
does not impact adversely on its functions,
day-to-day management and retention of
staff.
Under the Act, the NHRC enjoys freedom in
spending its budget without any prior
approval from the GoB (section 25). But the
Commission has no authority to fix its
annual expense which is a serious and a
specific defiance of the Paris Principles. It is
meaningless to think over the independence
of NHRC without self-budgetary power. It
cannot implement its plan due to short of
fund and government dependency.At
present, the Government provides 25%,
and the development partners provide
75%, of funding for the NHRC. There are
currently negotiations underway for a new
funding agreement from October 2015.The
SCA emphasized that, the funding from
external
sources
e.g.
international
development partners, should not compose
the core funding of the NHRC, as this is the
responsibility of the State. The NHRC should
not be required to obtain approval from the
state for external sources of funding, which
may
otherwise
detract
from
its
independence. Such funds should not be
tied to donor-defined priorities but rather to
the pre-determined priorities of the NHRC.
A Human Rights Commission Fundof NHRC
is prescribed to be formed by the grant of
the GoB and local authority under section
24 of the NHRC Act, 2009. The NHRC is
framing
rules
for
formation
and
management of the fund.
Provision of adequate funding by the State
should, at a minimum, include the
following:
a) The allocation of funds for premises
which are accessible to the wide
community, including for persons with
disabilities. In certain circumstances, in
order to promote independence and
accessibility, this may require that offices
are not co-located with government
agencies. Where possible, accessibility
should be further enhanced by establishing
a permanent regional presence;
b) Salaries and benefits awarded to staff
comparable to those of civil servants
performing
similar
tasks
in
other
independent institutions of the State;
c) Remuneration of members of the
decision-making body (where appropriate);
d) The establishment of a well-functioning
communications
system
including
telephone and internet; and
e) The allocation of a sufficient amount of
resources for mandated activities. Where
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