Building stronger National human rights institutions 8% 48% From conducting inquiries and investigating complaints through to running education programs and advising government on laws and policies, NHRIs work at the frontline to promote and protect human rights. very high high medium low very low no response The APF provides a range of services to support our members to be as effective as possible, often in challenging political and social contexts. Depending on its legislation, a new leadership team will be appointed to an NHRI every three-to-five years. It is vital that incoming Commission members have the opportunity to discuss their role, their shared priorities and how they can use the NHRI’s mandate to drive change. During the year, the APF hosted a High Level Dialogue for the incoming leadership teams from the NHRIs of Timor Leste (August 2019) and Afghanistan (November 2019). The need to focus on the rights of vulnerable groups, including women and girls, was a common theme in these conversations. BUILDING CAPACITY TO DRIVE CHANGE The APF led a capacity assessment for the Fiji Human Rights and Anti Discrimination Commission (January 2020) and a capacity assessment review for Timor Leste’s Provedor for Human Rights and Justice (March 2020).1 The goal is to support NHRIs to identify practical steps they can take to strengthen their institutions in order to deliver genuine human rights change, especially for those vulnerable to human rights violations. A report with recommendations is provided to the NHRI at the conclusion of the program. Timor Leste’s NHRI credited the capacity assessment review as being the catalyst to include more women in senior leadership roles within the institution. The APF has now conducted capacity assessments and capacity assessment reviews with 23 NHRIs in the region, facilitated in partnership with UNDP and OHCHR. The commitment shown by NHRIs to implement capacity assessment recommendations demonstrates a genuine desire to strengthen their institutions and improve their effectiveness. In the past year, Bahrain’s National Institution for Human Rights implemented 15 of the 25 recommendations marked as ‘completed’ by NHRIs in the region. 10 ASIA PACIFIC FORUM OF NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS 44% ANNUAL MEMBER SURVEY 2020: VALUE TO MEMBERS OF BUILDING STRONGER NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS WHAT WE ACHIEVED IN 2019–20 • Led High Level Dialogues and capacity assessment programs to assist four NHRIs in the region • More than 80% of APF members reported an increased capacity to do their work, with ten citing APF support as a crucial factor • Delivered capacity development and networking programs for more than 130 representatives from 30 NHRIs in the region Each year our members provide a self-assessment of their institutional capacity. This year, 19 of the 23 members (83%) that responded indicated their capacity was either ‘a little higher’ or ‘a lot higher’ than last year, with ten NHRIs citing APF support as a factor in their increased capacity. The remaining four – all well-established NHRIs – rated their capacity as ‘about the same’. WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/USER/ASIAPACIFICFORUM