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Summary: "The human rights of women and girls: The role of national human rights institutions," provided the theme for the 11th International Conference of the International Coordinating Committee on National Institutions, which took place in Jordan from 5 - 7 November.
Background At the International Conference held in Tunis in 1993, NHRIs established the International Coordinating Committee of NHRIs (ICC) with the aim to coordinate the activities of the NHRI network.
Eleventh International Conference The 11th conference took place in Amman, Jordan, from 5-7 November 2012, and was hosted by the Jordan National Centre for Human Rights (JNCHR), in cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (ICC). The focus of the Conference was “The human rights of women and girls: Promoting gender equality: The role of national human rights institutions.” Conference outcomes During the meeting, the National Human Rights Institutions in attendance adopted the Amman Declaration, in which they agreed to the following broad principles and areas of work: 1. Prioritize and mainstream the human rights of women and girls and gender equality throughout all their strategic planning, processes, policies, programmes and activities with a view to establishing sustainable interventions to achieve gender equality. 2. Strengthen coordination between NHRI women's and children's rights departments where they exist, or as relevant, cooperate with specialized institutions at the national level dealing with these issues and engage with organizations and stakeholders at the national, regional and international levels, including trade unions, UN agencies, non-State actors, civil society organizations, and regional- and inter-governmental organizations to promote and protect women‟s and girl‟s human rights and gender equality. 3. Monitor the States‟ fulfilment of their human rights obligations and, where the NHRI mandate permits, non-State actors‟ compliance with human rights standards, including those relating to the human rights of women and girls and gender equality. 5. Facilitate women‟s and girls‟ access to justice, including judicial and non-judicial remedies, in accordance with their mandate. 6. Where NHRIs have quasi-judicial powers, exercise them fully to provide relief to the women and girl victims and press for administrative action against or the criminal prosecution of offenders. 7. Promote the realization of the human rights of women and girls, including as found in CEDAW, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and other human rights norms and standards, into national law and policies. 8. Encourage the withdrawal of reservations to such treaties with a view to strengthening the implementation of all human rights treaties. 9. Monitor and encourage the implementation of the recommendations of treaty bodies and special procedures, resolutions of UN intergovernmental bodies, including the General Assembly, Human Rights Council, Commission on the Status of Women (UN CSW) and the Commission on Population and Development; and recommendations accepted by States in the context of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). 10. Work with women human rights defenders, and devote particular attention to the gender-specific violations that women human rights defenders suffer for being women or because of the gender-specific causes that they defend, and promote their access to remedies in case of violations. 11. Forge strategic partnerships with UN agencies such as UN Women, UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, and OHCHR to strengthen cooperation with, and the capacities of, NHRIs to more effectively promote and protect women‟s and girls‟ human rights. 12. Undertake education, promotion and awareness-raising activities on the human rights of women and girls, gender equality and relevant international standards. 13. Develop guidelines, where applicable, relating to the human rights of women and girls and monitor State compliance with such guidelines. 14. Monitor and work with individuals and entities in the private sector and non-governmental sphere to ensure that they do not discriminate against women and girls. 15. Monitor the activities of businesses, from local to global, and report on any adverse impacts on women‟s and girls‟ enjoyment of their human rights. To view all the outcomes and recommendations, see the attached document. Further Information