ANNUAL REPORT 2011 to strengthen their recommendations. And we hope to be able to use NGOs as conduits for complaints, and to strengthen monitoring work already being undertaken with the NHRC’s legal powers. The Commission’s function of inspecting places of detention, for example, can open doors that have hitherto been closed to NGOs. Similarly, when undertaking inquiries the Commission has powers to summon witnesses and examine them on oath. These official powers go well beyond what NGOs or other civil society actors are able to do. We recognise that often much more progress can be made on the human rights front by focussing on systematic change. The National Human Rights Commission Act 2009 does empower the Commission to inquire into complaints of human rights violations from individuals affected and others complaining on their behalf. We are already receiving a regular flow of complaints and will pursue these as effectively as we can. However, securing changes in the system change can affect very large numbers of people. Wherever possible we will work to achieve large-scale changes affecting groups of our constituents. Since the first Commission was established by ordinance during the period of the caretaker government, efforts have been made to secure an adequate budget, accessible premises and an effective secretariat. These initiatives have continued since the appointment of current commissioners, but a number of difficulties remain. Although we are currently housed in a building in Lalmatia, this will need to be vacated shortly and we need to locate more secure accommodation. Some funds have been made available from the state budget but these are far from adequate and will need to be increased substantially if we are to become an effective institution. Similarly, the staff currently allocated to the Commission fall short by a substantial margin in numbers and capacity for what we require to fulfil our role. We need to give priority to overcoming these hurdles. Key Strategies: Ÿ Cooperate with others in the human rights field – with state agencies and civil society alike Ÿ Add value to what is already being done by stakeholders Ÿ Focus on systemic change Ÿ Identify and resolve road blocks to acting independently – for example, our current inability to secure own budget, staff etc 5. Pressing Human Rights Issues The NHRC’s mandate is extremely broad – it has to act across the full range of human rights set out in the Constitution and ratified international human rights instruments. These include both civil and political rights as well as economic, social and cultural rights. It is clear however that the NHRC will be unable to address every human rights issue at once – it will need to prioritise. This is not to rank any particular human right as more important than another. Rather it recognises that the Commission, particularly in its early period, will be under severe capacity constraints and will be able to focus initially on a limited range of issues. The Commission will decide on its initial priorities only after consultation with its stakeholders, particularly civil society. For the purpose of generation discussion, a number of pressing human rights issues have been identified in the list that follows: 80