Chapter 5: Identify, consult and engage stakeholders KEY QUESTIONS • Who are the important stakeholders who can assist the national inquiry? • Who are those that the national inquiry will need to engage if it is to be effective? • What roles can stakeholders play in the national inquiry? 5.1. IDENTIFYING STAKEHOLDERS Those who will have an interest in a national inquiry and whose contribution to the inquiry will be valuable come from many sectors. An early task for the inquiry team will be to: • identify those sectors or areas of society with particular interests in relation to the issue • identify those individuals who have already been outspoken on the issue or have established a public profile in relation to it. Stakeholders will want to contribute to the inquiry because of their own interest in the subject and their wish to see the inquiry both endorse their perspectives or analysis and advance their views. For some of them, the inquiry will be seen as an opportunity to win a credible, high-status organisation to their position. Of course, some will also feel threatened by the inquiry. They may be anxious that the inquiry will be persuaded by those with whom they disagree and so give weight to views opposed to theirs. Some may fear that the inquiry will lay blame on them personally or their organisations for contributing to the situation of human rights violation being investigated. Stakeholders are important to the inquiry because they have the expertise in the issue that the NHRI may lack and is seeking through the inquiry process. Their expertise and experience are essential for the inquiry’s success. Stakeholder participation, therefore, involves a mutually beneficial, two-way relationship. 5.2. WHO ARE THE KEY STAKEHOLDERS? Victims of the human rights violation under investigation and their families and communities are the first and most important stakeholders. They look to the inquiry to provide justice and to ensure that the violations are not repeated. They bring unique expertise to the inquiry because of their experience. They have experienced the violations personally or their family members or friends have experienced the violations. They can tell the inquiry what happened, their views on why it happened and what the consequences of the violation are. They can also tell the inquiry what is required to remedy the violations. A national inquiry cannot succeed without engagement with, and the expert contribution of, those who are victims of the human rights violation under inquiry. Chapter 5: Identify, consult and engage stakeholders | 23