NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS FROM ACROSS GLOBE TO FOCUS ON MIGRATION AT GATHERING IN BOLIVIA

20 October 2006



National human rights institutions (NHRIs) from some 70 countries will gather in Santa Cruz, Bolivia from 24 to 26 October 2006 to discuss how they best can ensure the protection of migrants’ rights. There are an estimated 200 million migrants globally, and many are increasingly the subject of attack.

The NHRIs will be taking part in the Eighth International Conference of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs), organized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Defensoría del Pueblo de Bolivia, and the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions (ICC), with financial support from Rights and Democracy and the Special Fund for Ombudsmen and National Human Rights Institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean.

It is expected that in addition to general awareness raising NHRIs will discuss their important role in assisting States to meet their international obligations regarding migrants. The Conference will aim to elaborate a common strategy to address migration, recognizing its positive potential. The Santa Cruz Declaration and guidelines resulting from the Conference will also outline implementing measures focusing on the promotion and protection of human rights in migration related issues.

Prior to the Conference, some 40 international, regional and national non-governmental organizations (NGOs) will discuss the role of NHRIs in relation to issues of migration, focusing specifically on the Conference’s sub-themes, namely: inclusion of migrants in host societies including the prevention of racism and xenophobia; prevention of human rights abuses against irregular migrants; smuggling and trafficking; migration, human rights and development; and groups in focus, such as internally-displaced persons, unaccompanied children, indigenous people and minorities.

The first International Conference of National Human Rights Institutions was held in Paris in 1991 to meet an increasing need for cooperation among NHRIs. Conferences have been held every two years, alternating among Europe, Asia Pacific, the Americas and Africa.


For more information on the Conference, please follow this link: www.nhri.net.

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For use of the information media; not an official record