FOREWORD BY THE CHAIRMAN The Strategic Plan 2004-2008 (B.S. 2060-2065) of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is the product of a series of intensive exercises within the organisation and many valuable feedbacks from all stakeholders namely, the government agencies, various commissions, judiciary, law enforcement agencies, political parties, human rights organisations, civil society, intellectuals, media, business sector, donors and the NHRC staff. A product of the consolidated approach, the plan in its present shape best represents what we should do, how and in what direction we should proceed in the future. It is important to note that this Plan also takes into consideration the best practices of national human rights institutions elsewhere and our own experience of past three years. It is a powerful instrument to guide the NHRC in executing its duties and responsibilities in accordance with the aspirations of its statute and the stakeholders. Hence, the multiyear and annual work plan of the NHRC in the future will be prepared on the basis of this document and their implementation will be jointly reviewed by the Members and the staff. Staff and Members of the NHRC will regularly refer to the document to check that their work correspond with the Strategic Plan and will make sure that they all are effectively guided by this document in discharging their responsibilities. The NHRC does not anticipate major changes in its external environment in the foreseeable future. Therefore, revision of the strategic priorities may not be likely in the next 2 to 3 years. However, if there is a major change, the NHRC will immediately review the priorities and adjust, where necessary. The Plan refrains from addressing every human rights issue and concentrates on some of the most important issues identified by the stakeholders at this stage. This does not mean that the NHRC considers other issues as unimportant, but due to resource constraints, it has to prioritise its work for the next five years. The NHRC will also, according to its mandate and authority, address those issues, which are not part of the Strategic Plan, by responding to the complaints filed by the individuals, groups and organisations. I wish to take this opportunity to thank all staff and the Members of the NHRC for their active contributions to the processes and congratulate them on their initiative to collectively work to define the “vision and mission statements” of the organisation, a set of core values that is binding to all of us and those who will be working with us in projects and programmes, and priority human rights issues. Because of the participatory process, we have strong ownership of the strategic priorities and heightened awareness of the role of each and every staff in successfully implementing them. The NHRC will immediately review its current organizational structure in terms of staff capacity and functional arrangements to effectively implement the strategic plan. I am therefore, convinced that with a widely shared Strategic Plan and a new organization structure designed to converge the NHRC’s capabilities and resources on its key strategic choices, the NHRC will attain the effectiveness and results expected by its stakeholders. Nayan Bahadur Khatri Chairman December 2003