II. RATIONALE

The International Conference on the Role of NHRIs in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations will be an opportunity to take stock of NHRIs’ experiences in conflict and post-conflict situations and further explore the roles of NHRIs in conflict-affected and fragile settings. Bringing together expert practitioners, conference participants will have an opportunity to learn from and with each other about a number of topics around this theme.

UNDP, in collaboration with its partners, has supported 80 NHRIs globally. With its strong partnerships with the International Coordinating Committee of NHRIs (ICC) and OHCHR, and an improved organization of, and collaboration with, regional NHRIs networks, UNDP has been in a better position to offer more succinct responses to requests from NHRIs at the global, regional and national levels.

UNDP supports and collaborates with NHRIs worldwide, particularly in the areas of: addressing institutional, architectural and operational challenges faced by NHRIs; NHRIs and democratic governance; business and human rights; information and knowledge management; the Universal Periodic Review process, Treaty Bodies and Special Procedures; and the consolidation of the Capacity Assessment and Gap Analysis methodologies.

As for NHRIs in transition and fragile settings, given that NHRIs under the Paris Principles were generally designed with principles of democracy intact,[4] NHRIs—especially in recent times and in countries in transition as well as in conflict—have also had to face different challenges. The expectations of these institutions to act and respond to human rights violations in crisis and conflict have expanded; in many instances they stand as beacons of democracy and rule of law, even if they are not sufficiently resourced and equipped to manage and address systemic issues related to crisis and conflict.

In Ukraine, UNDP has been a long-standing and sustainable partner of the Ombudsperson. UNDP was entrusted with conducting a comprehensive capacity and needs assessment of the Ombudsperson’s Office in 2012, assisting the office with an internal reform process and restructuring, contributing to the establishment of the National Preventive Mechanism and, ultimately, running a pilot of a network of civil society representatives to provide representation for the Office. The long-lasting partnership between the Ombudsperson’s Office and UNDP intensified when the country, in 2014, entered a phase of societal upheaval, followed by violent conflict in the Eastern part of the country.

The Ukrainian Ombudsperson’s Office and UNDP recognize the need for discussing and sharing good practices, and developing further guidance, on the roles of NHRIs in conflict-affected and fragile settings within the Europe and the CIS region and beyond.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14