3.2 Promotion

Human rights promotion aims at creating a national culture in which tolerance, equality, mutual respect and human rights thrive. The Paris Principles provide that all NHRIs should promote human rights. They refer directly to the obligation to:

• assist in the formulation and delivery of education initiatives;
• publicise human rights; and
• increase public awareness, including through the media.

NHRIs contribute by informing people of their human rights (no one can assert and defend their rights if they do not know what those rights are). But this is only half the equation: NHRIs also encourage State institutions and the public at large to understand rights and support their enforcement.

NHRIs work with a variety of different stakeholders but do not represent a special interest group: they thus are ideally suited to provide a balanced message on the rights people enjoy as well as relevant commitments undertaken by States.

Further information on promotional activities is set out below, and assistance can be provided by the OHCHR’s National Institutions and Regional Mechanisms Section and regional coordinating bodies of NHRIs such as the APF in the Asia Pacific region.