NHRC chair calls for intensified work with OHCHR

Geneva: Chairperson of the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) H E Maryam bint Abdullah Al Attiyah called for expanding joint work with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, promoting more human rights culture, and investing in international sports forums hosted by the State of Qatar to promote human rights, as a pioneering experience of its kind that supports human rights and sports.

During a meeting with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights H E Michelle Bachelet at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) headquarters in Geneva, Al Attiyah underlined that the NHRC looks forward to activating its long-established partnership with the Commission.

The NHRC Chairperson revealed that the Committee will organise an international conference in the coming months on “climate developments and human rights”. 

In this regard, she called for joint work between the two sides before the conference in order to build capacities in the field of climate support activities, business and human rights, and to prepare joint training programmes in this aspect.

Al Attiyah praised the participation of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in organising the International Solidarity Conference, which kicked off in Cairo yesterday. The conference is organised by the NHRC and the Arab Network for National Human Rights Institutions, in partnership with the National Council for Human Rights in the Arab Republic of Egypt, the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States and the United Nations Development Programme.

Al Attiyah, in her capacity as Secretary-General and Vice-President of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, stressed the importance of advancing the partnership between the Alliance and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights; carrying out joint activities between the two sides for the benefit of national institutions across the world; and forming a coordinating committee between the Commission and the Alliance to develop a plan for this purpose. 

She called for holding a permanent annual meeting between the President of the Global Alliance and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to determine the agenda of supporting the capabilities of national institutions that are members of the Alliance, and to encourage national institutions based on the Paris Principles and international standards that qualify them to perform their role to the fullest.

In a related context, Al Attiyah met with Chief of the Special Procedures Branch of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights H E Beatriz Balbin. During the meeting, Al Attiyah emphasised the support of the NHRC and cooperation with international and regional mechanisms concerned with the promotion and protection of human rights, the most important of which are the mechanisms of special procedures and private rapporteurs.

Al Attiyah said that the NHRC cooperates with the special rapporteurs directly, and responds to all reports and questionnaires about the human rights situation in Qatar. She noted the participation of the National Human Rights Committee and its interaction with the reports and letters of the special rapporteurs.

She added that the NHRC, as part of its advisory role, encourages the government of Qatar to extend invitations to more special rapporteurs; praising the State’s response and opening its doors to all special rapporteurs and working groups to visit it without any reservations, to monitor on the ground the human rights conditions that fall within their competence.

In a related context, the NHRC Chairperson reviewed the role of the Committee in preparing parallel reports (shadow reports) to the treaty committees, in which it reports viewpoints that are independent of those presented by the government of Qatar in its national reports.

During her visit to the headquarters of the OHCHR in Geneva, Al Attiyah met with Chief of the Middle East and North Africa Section at OHCHR Ali Alnsour; and Chief of the Methodology Education and Training Section at OHCHR Francesca Marotta. During the meetings, Al Attiyah discussed ways to enhance cooperation and organise joint training courses through the cooperation of the NHRC with the UN Human Rights Training and Documentation Centre in Doha.