Chapter 1
Introducing National Human
Rights Institutions

Chapter 2
Models of NHRIs

Chapter 3
Roles and Responsabilities of
NHRIs

Chapter 4
The Rule of Law and the NHRI

Chapter 5
NHRIs, Development and
Democratic Governance

Chapter 6
Situating NHRI Support in the UN Planning & Programming Process

Chapter 7
Pre-establishment Phase of NHRIs

Chapter 8
Establishing NHRIs

Chapter 9
Consolidation Phase:
Strengthening the Mature NHRI

Chapter 10
Paris Principles and Accreditation

Quick Facts

Quick Facts about NHRIs and the UN System

  • As of June 2009, 66 NHRIs were accredited with “A” status by the ICC, under the auspices of the OHCHR, in compliance with the Paris Principles. Summaries of NHRIs that have undergone accreditation in the past are all available through http://www.nhri.net.
  • The UNDP and the OHCHR work with 80+ national institutions worldwide, many of which are Paris Principle-complaint NHRIs.
  • Regular NHRI Information Notes are prepared by the NIRM Section of the OHCHR, providing highlights of national, regional and international issues on NHRIs. More information can be obtained from http://www.nhri.net or from the NIRM Section of the OHCHR at http://www.OHCHR.org/EN/Countries/NHRI/Pages/NHRIMain.aspx.

Quick Facts about the ICC

  • The ICC was established in 1993 to coordinate NHRI network activities. In 1998, rules of procedure were developed for the ICC, and its membership was enlarged to 16 members, with four from each geographical region.
  • The ICC is now incorporated under Swiss law, with a new Statute adopted in 2008 in order to better address the changing environment, including the role of NHRIs in the international human rights system.
  • The ICC has its head office in Geneva. The ICC Statute can be viewed at http://www.nhri.net
  • More than 100 NHRIs have been accredited by the ICC.
  • Since 2007, the ICC has a permanent representative based in Geneva.
  • More information on the ICC, its standards, the accredited NHRIs, and the accreditation process overall can be found in Chapter 10.

Quick Facts about how the promotional mandate is resourced in NHRIs

An OHCHR survey shows that a number of NHRIs are not carrying out activities relating to human rights education and research, despite having the mandate to do so. Many, particularly in Africa and the Asia Pacific have commented that there was a lack of resources or materials available to do so.

See OHCHR, Survey of National Human Rights Institutions: Report on the Findings and Recommendations of a Questionnaire Addressed to NHRIs Worldwide. 2009.


Quick Facts: NHRI Organisational Structures

An OHCHR survey shows that in Africa and the Asia Pacific, management structures are a weakness for many institutions, with fewer than 60% of respondents considering their institution's organisational structure to be efficient.1