8 INTEGRATING REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS INTO THE WORK OF NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS OF THE ASIA PACIFIC REGION The focus of the workshop was reproductive and sexual rights: to that extent broader than the subject matter of the present report and UNFPA’s main focus, which remains on reproductive rights. It is nevertheless useful to summarize the key findings of this important meeting: l Universal human rights include sexual and reproductive rights. l The violation of people’s reproductive rights restricts, interferes with and infringes upon their enjoyment of other rights, such as: the right to life, liberty, security and personal integrity; the right to decide the number and spacing of their children; the right to privacy, health, employment and social security; the right to education, development, equality and non-discrimination; the right to raise a family, to have access to appropriate, accurate and timely information, to legal protection and due process; and the right to a life without violence. l Given their universal, integral, indivisible and interdependent character, the promotion and protection of human rights – including sexual and reproductive rights – should be considered in the context of the search for human development; and l The application and effective exercise of sexual and reproductive rights is of benefit both to women and men, although women are the ones who suffer the most serious consequences of the non-observance of these rights in their daily lives. In their general recommendations for action, workshop participants noted the important role that NHRIs can play in monitoring State compliance with international legal obligations to protect and promote reproductive rights. The recommendations also noted various ways in which NHRIs can integrate reproductive rights into their work on educating and raising awareness about reproductive rights. As this report shows, reproductive rights are still a new issue for NHRIs of the Asia-Pacific region. While many are doing important work in this area, no NHRI has a program, policy or area of work devoted specifically to reproductive rights. Despite the acknowledged obstacles, all NHRIs consulted expressed a strong commitment to reproductive rights and a firm belief that their mandate required them to work in this area. This report confirms that NHRIs are well positioned to make a unique contribution to the realization of reproductive rights. As independent national bodies with a responsibility to promote and protect all human rights, NHRIs are able to help rights-holders claim the rights to which they are entitled; monitor and report on the implementation of rights; educate officials and the community about reproductive rights; and sometimes even contribute to the delivery of services. Perhaps more effectively than any other national body, NHRIs may be able to provide the space within which the inevitable sensitivities and controversies that surround reproductive rights can be explored and managed.