7.7.4 Developing programming for institutions before they are established
A related difficulty is the need for a programme of action in order to attract donors and justify a budget for project activities before the institution has actually come into being. This poses a dilemma: NHRIs have independence, including the independence to develop their own programme initiatives. A detailed plan that is developed too early will force programme and other administrative initiatives onto an institution that, once established, will have its own views about needs and priorities. This presents a conundrum: how to attract donors, which often require defined programme activities, while at the same time leaving the possibility open for the institution to come to its own decisions on programming initiatives?
Example: Developing the Program of Action without adequate ownership by NHRI: Afghanistan.
The Project to Support the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) was implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR). The Project was intended to be an effective mechanism for supporting the AIHRC to become functional and to build capacity. The AIHRC itself, however, determined that the programme of action defined in the project document did not meet its real strategic needs.
Although the NHRI senior members were part of the stakeholder group that developed the plan, they therefore decided to change the plan. Subsequent reviews and evaluations have noted this problem, noting in particular that the initial strategic plan, which formed the basis of the project document and was designed by an outside expert, was too ambiguous and ambitious.11
There are ways to mitigate this problem:
- Building into any project document a mandatory strategic planning process which could result in modifications to project activities that are projected in the pre-establishment phase.
- Concentrating on designing support programmes that feature needs that are predictable and common to all newly established NHRIs. (These are discussed Chapter 8).