Intro to national human rights institutions
Details about this content
Target group: Human rights professionals
Languages: English
Developed by: The Danish Institute for Human Rights. Content from other reliable sources
National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) are independent national bodies. They are established by constitution or statute - that is, by law - to promote and protect human rights and to hold governments to account for their human rights obligations.
The mandate, roles and functions of an NHRI in a given state is clearly defined in the constitution or statute, and these characteristics of the NHRI may differ from state to state.
Six models of NHRIs exist across all regions of the world today: human rights commissions, human rights ombudsman institutions, hybrid institutions, consultative and advisory bodies, institutes and centres, and multiple institutions.
You can learn more about NHRIs in the animated video below.
NHRIs play a unique role in the national human rights system that consists of state and non-state actors. You can learn more about the different types of actors, policies and processesin a national human rights system in the lesson (interactive map) below.
In the video below, different experts, and representatives from the Asia Pacific region describe the role of National Human Rights Institutions. The video has been created by The Asia Pacific Forum (APF).
You can learn more about NHRIs in the online resources that we have collected below.
Other online resources
Manual on national human rights institutions (2015), APF
National human rights institutions – history, principles, role and responsibilities (2010), OHCHR
National human rights institutions - an introduction (2010), GIHR
Continue your introduction to NHRIs
This is part 1 in a series with the purpose of giving an introduction to NHRIs. The differentparts can stand on their own, but we recommend you follow the sequence indicated below to get the full introduction.