A/HRC/10/54
page 9
4. Europe
26. In early January 2008, the draft law to establish a national human rights institution in
Tajikistan was presented to Parliament. This followed a joint UNDP-OHCHR project to provide
assistance in the drafting of the law. The project ran from October to December 2007 and
involved the hiring of a consultant to assist the governmental working group to draft the law and
the organization of a national round table to publicly discuss the draft law. The consultant’s final
report, which included an assessment of the compliance of the draft law with the Paris Principles,
was submitted in January 2008.
27. OHCHR participated in a workshop on the feasibility of establishing a national human
rights institution in Lithuania, held in Lithuania on 17 March 2008, to support the establishment
of an institution compliant with the Paris Principles.
28. In May and June 2008, an evaluation of the ombudsman institution of Kyrgyzstan
(financed by Action 2, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and OHCHR) was
conducted to assess its effectiveness and capacity gaps. In July 2008, OHCHR held a workshop
with the institution concerning the national preventive mechanism under the Optional Protocol to
the Convention against Torture. From 24 to 26 July 2008, a 3-day workshop (financed by
OHCHR, UNICEF and Action 2) was held for the institution on strategic planning, priority
setting and restructuring according to specialized thematic departments. In September 2008,
OHCHR provided a national consultant to the institution for a six-month period, to advise on the
restructuring phase. From 10 to 14 November, Action 2 and UNDP organized a 5-day workshop
for the institution on complaints procedures. In close cooperation with the institution, the
United Nations elaborated a project document for a joint technical assistance programme for the
institution for the period 2009-2011.
29. On 10 September 2008, OHCHR participated in a workshop organized in Berlin by the
German Institute for Human Rights. The event focused on how the institute could implement
article 33 (2) of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which provides for a
monitoring role for national human rights institutions with regard to the Convention.
30. On 31 October 2008, OHCHR participated in a workshop on entrenching international
human rights principles, organized by the Scottish Human Rights Commission in the context of
the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The event was jointly
funded by the School of Law, the University of Strathclyde and the Scottish Human Rights
Commission.
31. On 5 November 2008, OHCHR hosted a study visit of five staff members of the Danish
Institute for Human Rights, who were briefed on the role, functions and recent activities of the
National Institutions Unit in support of human rights institutions worldwide.
5. Arab region
32. A joint evaluation mission to Mauritania was conducted by OHCHR and the Association
francophone des commissions nationales des droits de l’homme from 7 to 10 June 2008, with the
aim to assess the needs of the National Human Rights Commission. The mission met with a wide
range of stakeholders, generated support for the national human rights institution, and formulated
recommendations on strengthening the Commission’s capacity.
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents