Statement by NIHR Chairman on the Importance of supporting Civil Society Institutions Work
Eng. Ali Ahmed Al-Derazi, Chairman of the National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR), stated the importance of supporting civil society institutions and granting them powers to carry out their competencies and objectives, stressing at the same time the importance and effective role of the NIHR, in accordance with its Establishment Law, which aims to hold meetings, joint events, cooperate and coordinate with relevant society institutions and human rights defenders, and provide support and advice to advance and develop human rights work in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
This was at the sidelines of the consultative meetings that the NIHR is currently holding with a number of civil society organisations working in the field of human rights, where Al-Derazi said, "The NIHR has held several consultative meetings with a number of representatives of civil society institutions, independently, during the past two weeks, and discussed the most prominent challenges facing the work of those institutions that hinder the achievement of their goals", stressing the importance of the NGO Support Department of the Ministry of Social Development performing its assigned role through cooperating and coordinating with civil society institutions, providing them with the necessary support, and listening to the challenges they face, whether through providing appropriate headquarters or holding awareness-raising events, for which its system was established and stipulated, being one of the basic pillars of the development and progress witnessed by the Kingdom of Bahrain in the human rights file, in addition to being an effective tool in enhancing Bahrain's position at regional and international levels.
Al-Derazi pointed out that the NIHR is seriously is seriously seeking to organize work at a large scale in order to find a suitable working environment for these associations in order to achieve the goals entrusted to them in the various cultural, social, economic and legal fields, and stated the importance of reconsidering a number of provisions of the Social and Cultural Associations and Clubs Law of 1989, to facilitate their work and activate their competencies, stressing the NIHR's full readiness to support it in implementing their role for which they were established. He added, "The NIHR will continue to hold such consultative meetings with the remaining unions and professional associations and bodies during the remainder of this year".
