HE the Chairperson of the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) Maryam bint Abdullah al-Attiyah met with a visiting delegation from the Oman Human Rights Commission.
The meeting saw a review on how the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) is accredited as well as the foundations of classification and how to benefit from the experience of the NHRC from a legal standpoint and from a practice level.
The NHRC's law, formation and the mechanism for selecting members were reviewed, in addition to introducing the content of independence and how to achieving it, the mechanism of action and how to align with the Paris Principles related to national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights as well as relations with other organisations and the importance of co-operation with them.
HE al-Attiyah reviewed the NHRC experience since its establishment and its most prominent historical milestones, in addition to the strengths that qualified it to obtain the classification "A" from the International Co-ordinating Committee (ICC), which the NHRC obtained in 2011, and still maintains until now.
She noted that the NHRC assumed the position of chair of the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions from 2013 to 2015, in addition to the presidency of the Arab Network for Human Rights for the year 2013.
In her capacity as Chairperson of the GANHRI, HE al-Attiyah said that she works to strengthen the role of national human rights institutions and enable them to expand mutual exchanges of knowledge and experience to move forward to achieve their goals.
She provided an overview of the activities and conferences scheduled to be organised by the NHRC during the coming period, explaining that the NHRC will organise an international conference entitled "Food justice from a human rights perspective" on Feb 6 and 7, in partnership with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions and the League of Arab States, with the participation of about 700 representatives of governmental and non-governmental organisations at the international, regional and local levels, in addition to a number of human rights defenders and relevant special rapporteurs.
In addition to the international conference organised annually by the NHRC, an annual national forum that focuses on one of the topics of interest to the citizen and addresses the rights of one of the vulnerable groups and how to enhance them will be held, she added, noting that the NHRC aims through these forums to come up with recommendations that can enhance the rights of these groups, and is working to follow up on its implementation in co-operation with the relevant authorities.
For his part, Chairman of the Oman Human Rights Commission Dr Rashid bin Hamad al-Balushi stressed the keenness of both sides to enhance co-operation and build future partnerships, as well as the Omani commission's aim to benefit from the experience of the NHRC.
The NHRC Chairperson expressed her aspiration to expand the circle of co-operation within the framework of examining comprehensive and effective solutions based on human rights and moving towards more effective work for the exchange of knowledge, expertise and experiences, stressing that national institutions are the backbone of countries as they link human rights and sustainable development to become a tangible reality for all individuals and they also aim to establish strong and inclusive societies as envisaged in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The delegation of the Oman Human Rights Commission visited the permanent exhibition of the NHRC at its headquarters. The expo introduces the vision, mission, efforts and achievements of the NHRC, the awards and certificates it obtained, the training courses it provides, and its most important publications to introduce human rights as well as models of the most prominent historical milestones, in addition to a review of international events, conferences, and campaigns to raise awareness of expat workers about human rights organized by the NHRC as well as its participation in various events around the world.
