National Institution for Human Rights – Kingdom of Bahrain FOURTH: NIHR HUMAN RIGHTS STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN FOR THE YEARS (2013 – 2016): 1. NIHR has adopted a strategy and action plan that are based on five themes, namely, developing NIHR involvement in human rights protection efforts; promoting NIHR efforts in the field of legislative review and development; launching an extended national program for human rights education; launching a specialized program for the promotion of citizenship rights and supporting its values; and strengthening cooperation at the national, regional and international levels. 2. This strategy represents the objectives envisaged by His Majesty the King initiative to establish the National Institution for Human Rights in accordance with the Royal Decree No. 46 of 2009, amended by the Royal Decree No. 28 of 2012, the powers assigned to the Institution, the targeted goals, and the ways to achieve these goals. The strategy has adopted clear mission and vision in line with its objectives towards making “human rights culture as lifestyle”. NIHR vision confirms that the belief in human rights is a national tenet, that the recognition of rights and public freedoms, whether civil, political, economic, social, or cultural, and whether individual or collective, is a commitment to the values of justice, equality and human dignity of all human beings without discrimination, and that dealing with these rights should be a lifestyle across the various aspects of life. 3. NIHR strategy includes the following mission “Together to create a better practice of Human Rights”. This mission is based on the development, promotion and protection of human rights, by providing protection and assistance to the citizens and residents, enabling them to acquire diverse knowledge to exercise their legitimate rights, determining their needs and how to claim them, and defending these needs, by spreading the culture of human rights by all means available. In addition, the mission states that change can only be achieved through official and semi-official individual and collective concerted efforts. 4. Clear vision and mission are adopted to achieve a number of objectives, namely: disseminating the culture of human rights and defending these rights by all means available; educating individuals on the fundamental rights guaranteed for them under national legislation and international conventions; strengthening and empowering individuals through various training programs to increase knowledge and awareness of fundamental rights, and how to exercise these rights in a manner that ensures that all individuals enjoy such rights; expanding the communication network with the organizations specialized in human rights at the national, regional and international levels; receiving complaints, and monitoring and documenting human rights violations; providing the required information and legal aid services to the victims of human rights violations; and drafting and issuing annual reports and specialized reports related to certain topics. 5. NIHR strategy and action plan incorporate many services related to human rights and public freedoms, whether for individuals or for the official state institutions, as well as civil society organizations, through holding seminars, workshops, symposiums, and conferences, in order to raise awareness about all kinds of individual rights and freedoms. These events cover all human rights issues, in particular the most vulnerable categories (women’s rights, children’s rights, rights of persons with disabilities, and rights of the elderly). These events also aim to introduce the United Nations human rights mechanisms, and discuss important relevant topics and concepts, such as democracy, rule of law, discrimination, and torture. These cultural events specialized in human rights serve as an opportunity for the different sects of society to exchange views on these rights in order to find the best ways to exercise these rights and ensure their protection of any direct or indirect violation. 30