Media Handbook for National Human Rights Institutions WHY ENGAGE WITH THE MEDIA? Building community awareness of and support for human rights is a fundamental first step towards preventing violations and discrimination from occurring. National and international human rights laws set out clear standards that promote and protect the rights of individuals and place on States the responsibility to uphold these rights. By educating the community about these standards, and the mechanisms in place to protect their rights, individuals: • Are better able to assert their own rights • Are empowered to stand up for the rights of others • Can hold governments and decision-makers to account for their actions and advocate for changes to laws, policies and practices. The Principles Relating to the Status of National Institutions (the “Paris Principles”) require NHRIs to “publicize human rights and efforts to combat all forms of discrimination” by “making use of all press organs”.5 Working with the media can be a very effective way to reach a large number of people with information about human rights, especially given the financial constraints that many NHRIs face. Not only is media coverage “free”, it is also generally seen as being more reliable than information presented in advertising or promotional campaigns. Photo by D. Mowbray/CIMMYT is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. 5 Principles Relating to the Status of National Institutions (the “Paris Principles”), 3(g); available at www.asiapacificforum.net/ members/international-standards. Introduction for users | v