Expert meeting on strengthening independence of national human rights institutions in OSCE region concludes in Warsaw

More than 30 representatives of national human rights institutions (NHRIs), international organizations and academia took part in an expert meeting on the independence of NHRIs hosted by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Warsaw on 28 and 29 November 2016.

The participants reviewed specific aspects of international standards related to guarantees of independence and pluralism of NHRIs (the “Paris Principles”) and identified good practices and lessons learned in ensuring this. They also discussed future actions to provide sustainable operational guidance on the issue for NHRIs across the OSCE region.

‘’Support for independent national human rights institutions has an important place among the OSCE commitments and in ODIHR’s mandate,” said Katarzyna Jarosiewicz-Wargan, ODIHR’s First Deputy Director. “As such, this meeting enabled participants to share first-hand experiences and discuss the most beneficial ways by which the important work of NHRIs can be further supported.’’

‘’NHRIs have a unique position to respond to human rights developments in their countries,” said   Markus Jaeger, Head of Division at the Council of Europe’s Human Rights Policy and Development Department and one of the meeting’s co-organizers. “It is important to enable them to learn from each other so they can strengthen and maintain their independence.’’

Adam Bodnar, the Polish Commissioner for Human Rights, also stressed in his keynote address that platforms like this help NHRIs be better equipped to address the challenges they face.

The expert meeting was jointly organized by ODIHR, the Council of Europe, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI), the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) and the Office of the Polish Commissioner for Human Rights.