President Droupadi Murmu will inaugurate the Biennial Conference of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) of Asia Pacific which will take place which is scheduled to take place in New Delhi on September 20.
The conference is being organised by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC- India), in collaboration with the Asia Pacific Forum (APF), in which member countries and more than 1,300 plus delegates from India and abroad are likely to participate.
In a communiqué regarding the international conference, the NHRC on Thursday said that the conference will be attended by Heads, members and senior officials of the NHRI of 23 countries and five observer countries along with representatives from the Union and State governments, State Human Rights Commissions and many other who are associated with human rights, directly or indirectly.
India had hosted international conferences in 2002 and 2014.
On September 21, the Biennial Conference will mark the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UNDHR), it will hence celebrate 30 years of NHRI and the Paris Principles, with a sub-theme on the environment and climate change.
During the conference, three plenary sessions on the themes ‘Setting the scene – 30 years of promoting and protecting human rights across Asia and the Pacific’; ‘Advancing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its promise of freedom, equality, and Justice for All’; and ‘The role of NHRIs in responding to and mitigating the human rights impacts of climate change-national, regional, and international actions’, will be held.
A separate session on ‘Business and Human Rights’ will also be held in partnership with UNDP.
The Asia Pacific Forum was founded in 1996 with the support of five NHRIs, including the NHRC, India. The aim was to promote the establishment of independent NHRIs in the Asia Pacific region. From five founding members, the APF membership has expanded to 26 NHRIs.
The year also marks 30 years of the existence of NHRC, India.
“In three decades, the NHRC, disposed of more than 22 lakh cases and payment of more than one billion rupees to the victims of human rights violations on its recommendations indicate the respect given by various government institutions and agencies to the decisions of the Commission,” the statement said.
