ANNUAL REPORT 2014–2015 States have the obligation to protect, respect and fulfil human rights and national human rights institutions, with their monitoring function and their promotion function, can command attention to redress and remedy violations, not only at the hands of state actors but also non-state actors. ROBERTA CLARKE REGIONAL DIRECTOR, UN WOMEN REGIONAL OFFICE FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC SOURCE: APF INTERVIEW, DECEMBER 2014 NEW APF TRAINING COURSE ADVANCES GENDER EQUALITY Between January and April 2014, the APF ran its first blended learning program on the human rights of women and girls. Representatives from the NHRIs of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka took part in the course, which was based on the APF’s manual on the topic. The course focused on the international standards and mechanisms relating to the rights of women and girls and the ways in which NHRIs can use their legal powers and mandates to promote gender equality and respond to the serious and systematic human rights abuses experienced by women and girls. Discussions also explored the practical steps that NHRIs can take to “mainstream” gender equality and the rights of women and girls across all areas of their work and operations. Following a five-week online course, participants attended a week-long workshop in Kathmandu, hosted by the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal. As part of the workshop, participants proposed a number of concrete actions in their action plans. These ranged from establishing a maternal health program to a focus on incorporating a gender perspective into all the member’s work and internal policies and processes. The APF will provide $5,000 ‘seed’ funding to two member institutions to assist them implement these action plans. The course was rated very highly by participants in terms of its relevance and quality. It will be run again in 2015–16 to involve members from other sub-regions of the Asia Pacific. 21