1.2 NHRIs in Context

At the national level, many actors and stakeholders share responsibility for promoting and protecting human rights: NHRIs can only be understood in this larger context.

First, it is States who bear the primary responsibility for respecting, protecting and fulfilling human rights. The Government, Parliament, the Judiciary and other bodies enact laws, set policy frameworks, take judicial decisions and monitor the impact of their policies and programmes. As well, the judiciary has a very important role, enforcing the rule of law, controlling the constitutionality of the acts of government and of Parliament, and applying a human rights lens generally to their work. The police and other bodies enforce the law and are of course required to comply with human rights standards.

Civil society plays a central role, whether through the dedicated work of NGOs at the grassroots level, or through religious institutions, community service organizations, professional groups or associations and trade unions. The media bring human rights issues and concerns to the attention of the broader public and provide a forum for discussion and debate. The education system ensures that students at all levels are exposed to human rights through awareness raising, sensitisation and courses. Business (the private sector) plays an increasingly important role as well.

In the midst of all these actors, NHRIs are unique: they exist in a dynamic position between States, civil society and other actors, offering a neutral and objective space in which to interact, develop human rights laws and policy, and exchange ideas. NHRIs use their expertise and on-the-ground experience as a basis for promoting and protecting human rights. They conduct public education, use media to build or strengthen a national culture of human rights and provide a focal point for human rights in the country. These efforts educate and inform, but they also serve to prevent abuses from occurring in the first instance. NHRIs bring a human rights-based approach to the activities of government, so that development and economic issues are analysed through the lens of human rights principles, standards and corresponding obligations.

More detail on the relationship between human rights based approaches and the role of NHRIs in the development context is discussed in Chapter 5.