INTRODUCTION Since His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa acceded to the throne, the Kingdom of Bahrain has witnessed important transformations toward fostering greater democratic frameworks, entrenching the foundations of the rule of law, and building an integrated legislative and regulatory system, actual and practical practices, and public institutions that work to strengthen the human rights system. These are fundamental transformations aimed at advancing the course of human rights and public freedoms and ensuring that individuals fully enjoy such rights and freedoms. The Eighth Annual Report of the National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR) for the year 2020, comes at a time when the whole world, including the Kingdom of Bahrain, is experiencing special exceptional circumstances due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak, which has affected some fundamental rights and freedoms, especially the right to health, the right to work, and the right to education. This necessitates shedding light upon the efforts of the NIHR in the field of monitoring and following up on the human rights situation under such circumstances after the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, together with a review of the efforts and challenges facing the Kingdom in order to promote and protect human rights during this period, all in accordance with the provision of Article No. (21) of Law No. (26) of 2014 establishing the NIHR, as amended by Decree-Law No. (20) of 2016, which states that, “the Council of Commissioners shall produce an annual report on the efforts, activities and other work of the Institution. It shall include a section explaining the level of progress on the human rights situation in the Kingdom, as well as any observations and comments within its competency, identifying any obstacles to the Institution’s performance and the solutions adopted to circumvent such. The Council of Commissioners shall present the report to the King, the Council of Ministers, the Council of Representatives and the Shura Council; in parallel, it shall also present the report to the public.” The Eighth Annual Report consists of three chapters preceded by an introduction. The First Chapter addresses the NIHR’s efforts and activities in protecting and promoting human rights during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Second Chapter includes a review of the efforts and activities of the NIHR in protecting and promoting human rights in general, while the Third Chapter sheds light upon the advisory opinions, which the NIHR has submitted to the constitutional authorities. NIHR Bahrain- Eighth Annual Report 2020 7