National Human Rights Institutions

National Human Rights Institutions have been established in more than 60 countries during the past decades. While there are different types of National Human Rights Institutions, they are all based on the Paris Principles. These are the guidelines for National Human Rights Institutions, developed by the UN in 1993. National Human Rights Institutions are mandated to promote and protect human rights in the domestic arena as well as in a country's foreign policies. The German Institute for Human Rights has been founded as a National Human Rights Institution in 2001.

The institute co-operates with international and national partners interested in supporting capacity development of National Human Rights Institutions. Since 2006, we have trained staff from the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights, in anticipation of the foundation of the Iraqi National High-Commission for Human Rights. As part of this training of trainers, a training handbook in Arabic, Daliluna, was developed.

In 2011, the Institute is partnering with the German Agency for International Cooperation and the Federal Foreign Office in a twinning project with the National Human Rights Institution of Azerbaijan.