A Manual on National Human Rights Institutions National Institutions are established by States for the specific purpose of advancing and defending human rights at the national level, and are acknowledged to be one of the most important means by which States bridge the implementation gap between their international human rights obligations and actual enjoyment of human rights on the ground.13 This manual focuses specifically on the mechanism of NHRIs rather than other domestic mechanisms, although the manual also comments on how NHRIs can and should relate to other domestic mechanisms and to international mechanisms.14 1.3. EARLY ENCOURAGEMENT OF NHRIs The international system has recognised since its earliest days that the implementation of human rights obligations is, first and foremost, a domestic responsibility. For almost 70 years it has encouraged the development and establishment of specialised domestic mechanisms for this. In 1946, two years before it adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) asked UN member States to consider “the desirability of establishing information groups or local human rights committees within their respective countries to collaborate with them in furthering the work of the [UN] Commission on Human Rights”.15 These “local human rights committees” were not envisaged to be independent monitoring and investigation institutions that NHRIs are, but the ECOSOC resolution recognised the need for domestic human rights groups and anticipated the later development of NHRIs. However, there was little evidence of States rushing to respond to this request. Fourteen years later, in 1960, ECOSOC went further and was more specific. It recognised that national institutions could play a unique role in the promotion and protection of human rights and invited States to establish and strengthen them.16 There were some stirrings in that direction but little action. After another 18 years, in 1978, the UN Commission on Human Rights took up the challenge of promoting domestic monitoring by specialised domestic institutions. As standard-setting in the field of human rights gained momentum during the 1960s and 1970s, discussions on national institutions became increasingly focused on the ways in which these bodies could assist in the effective implementation of these international standards. In 1978, the Commission on Human Rights decided to organize a seminar on national and local institutions to draft guidelines for the structure and functioning of such bodies. Accordingly, the Seminar on National and Local Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights was held in Geneva from 18 to 29 September 1978, during which a series of guidelines was approved. These guidelines suggested that the functions of national institutions should be: (a) To act as a source of human rights information for the Government and people of the country; (b) To assist in educating public opinion and promoting awareness and respect for human rights; (c) To consider, deliberate upon, and make recommendations regarding any particular state of affairs that may exist nationally and that the Government may wish to refer to them; (d) To advise on any questions regarding human rights matters referred to them by the Government; (e) To study and keep under review the status of legislation, judicial decisions and administrative arrangements for the promotion of human rights, and to prepare and submit reports on these matters to the appropriate authorities; 6 13 GANHRI SCA General Observations as adopted in Geneva in May 2013, PP 2. 14 See APF, International Human Rights Law and the International Human Rights System (2012), which discusses the relationship between NHRIs and international human rights mechanisms at length. 15 ECOSOC resolution 9 (II) of 26 June 1946, para. 5. 16 ECOSOC resolution 772 (XXX) of 25 July 1960, Part B.