xvi SUHAKAM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The year 2019 was a milestone, with SUHAKAM charting the 20th year of its founding and establishment. The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) has come a long way since Parliament gazetted the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia Act 1999 (Act 597) on 9 September 1999. A notable highlight of the year, and a timely 20th anniversary gift for SUHAKAM, was the parliamentary debate of the 2018 SUHAKAM Annual Report for the first time, on 5 December 2019. Parliamentarians, as representatives of their constituents, bear a responsibility to recognise and acknowledge human rights issues that exist, and to use the power of their office to seek effective and permanent solutions. SUHAKAM welcomed the ninth batch of Commissioners midway through the year, with Tan Sri Othman bin Hashim as the incoming Chairman for the period 2019 – 2022. Not long after, a Children’s Commissioner (CC) joined the eight core members on 23 August 2019. Prof Dato’ Noor Aziah Mohd Awal’s work as CC focuses on the promotion and protection of children’s rights. These rights include the rights of indigenous children, those who are migrants, refugees, undocumented, stateless and children with disabilities, which are all underpinned by the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child. Recognising that education is the most effective way to nurture future generations who understand, and therefore will promote and protect human rights as a matter of principle, SUHAKAM worked to strengthen its cooperation with the Ministry of Education. SUHAKAM focused on developing the Civic Education Module and providing input in the review of the National Education Policy. SUHAKAM recommends that the National Education Policy should include human rights education as a means to achieve the aspirations of the policy. At the same time, the Human Rights Best Practices in Schools Programme expanded from an initial 222 schools with the addition of another 246 schools from throughout Malaysia in 2019. SUHAKAM initiated talks with the Institutes of Teacher Education Malaysia to incorporate human rights knowledge in the syllabus for teachers from the year 2020.