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NIHR Participates in Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Adoption of the Paris Principles, and the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in India

Eng. Ali Ahmed Al-Derazi, Chairman of the National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR), and Chancellor Yasser Ghanem Shaheen, NIHR Secretary-General, have participated in the activities of the second day of the 28^th Annual Conference of the Asia-Pacific Forum (APD) on celebrating the 30^th anniversary of the adoption of the Paris Principles regulating the work of national human rights institutions and 75 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was held in Delhi, the Republic of India.

The conference included four sessions that focused on the protection and promotion of human rights in the Asia-Pacific region, where Mr. Volker Turk, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, presented a recorded speech in which he touched on the role of the High Commissioner in promoting human rights through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and supporting national institutions in obtaining accreditation through technical support and exchange of expertise.

Mr. Vladlen Stefanov, Head of the Department of National Institutions and Local Mechanisms at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, also gave a speech in which he touched on the support provided by the Department to national institutions, and the importance of continuing this approach and helping institutions to obtain accreditation classification through engagement in training programmes organised by the Office of the High Commissioner in cooperation with its partners in the region.  A number of national institutions also presented a brief on their role in promoting human rights in their countries since their establishment and the challenges they face.

The conference also touched on the importance of promoting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and supporting freedom, equality and justice, and the role of national human rights institutions in responding to and mitigating the effects of climate change on human rights.

The conference concluded with the adoption of the New Delhi Declaration, which aims to highlight the importance of governments supporting national human rights institutions and granting them greater independence to ensure that they carry out their work in order to protect and promote all human rights by implementing sustainable development goals, mitigating the effects of climate change, and providing support to companies in order to make their work compatible with human rights.