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[25 October 2006] - Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg yesterday held a discussion with the Council of Europe's Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH), promoting the idea of National Action Plans for Human Rights, which have already proved useful in some countries. The meeting was part of a series of regular consultations on the modalities of ensuring the full realisation of human rights obligations and treaties, in particular the European Convention on Human Rights and the Revised Social Charter. Attended by government representatives from 46 member states, the meeting discussed the benefits and challenges of working with comprehensive Action Plans, as one possible tool to implement and monitor the application of agreed human rights standards. "There are several benefits to systematic planning, as opposed less structured approaches," Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg said. “It puts human rights monitoring on the domestic agenda on a permanent basis. It provides for a constructive way to work with recommendations from international monitoring bodies. Such a comprehensive approach is also likely to ensure that concerns of vulnerable groups are not forgotten, and resources are allocated when there is a strong need.†The Commissioner also emphasised the importance of involving civil society organisations in the planning and the need to have efficient coordination between authorities of different levels, including local authorities. The agenda included presentations by three representatives of the Swedish Ministry of Justice (Deputy Director-General Marcus Brixskiöld, Deputy Director Camilla Goldbeck-Löwe and Special Adviser Anna-Karin Lindblom) -- officials who had been responsible for the development and coordination of the work around Sweden's two subsequent national action plans. The idea of National Action Plans for Human Rights originates from the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, but few governments subsequently followed up on their pledge to design and implement such plans.