The Chairperson of National Human Rights Commission of Korea, discussed key human rights issues in the Asia-Pacific region as APF Chair.
Proposed Guidelines on the Role of National Human Rights Institutions in Conflict Situations in Asia and the Pacific
Song Doo-hwan, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK), chaired the Asia-Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF), which held its Governance Committee Meeting and Regional Network Meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on 5 and 6 May, to decide on important issues related to the work of the APF. The results of the APF Governance Committee discussions were finalized at the Asia-Pacific Regional Network Meeting, which was attended by 20 national human rights institutions.
The meeting presented the activities undertaken by the APF over the past year in the areas of gender equality, environment and climate change, and protection of human rights defenders and civic space, in pursuit of its goal of supporting and strengthening the capacity of national human rights institutions in the region. The meeting also approved the APF business plan for the coming year.
At the meeting, the APF presented, inter alia, the draft Guidelines on the Role of National Human Rights Institutions in Conflict in Asia and the Pacific and invited comments from member organizations.
Member organizations recognized that the draft Guidelines proposed by the APF provide national human rights institutions with suggestions for conflict prevention and peaceful resolution with regard to human rights violations that may occur before, during and after conflicts, and agreed to form a drafting committee to finalize the draft.
The drafting committee, composed of national human rights institutions from the Republic of Korea, Mongolia (Northeast Asia), the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar (Southeast Asia), Sri Lanka, India (South Asia), Australia (Pacific) and Jordan (Middle East), plans to issue the final Guidelines in August.
During the two-day meeting, the Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea raised the profile of the APF by strengthening cooperation among national human rights institutions in the region and raising the discussion on the role of national human rights institutions in conflict.
