This desk review and analysis were carried out by DIHR Senior Researcher Steven L. B. Jensen in 2018.
Listen to Steven L. B. Jensen's introduce the report in the audio clip below:
Introduction
This publication presents an analysis of the research literature on National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs). It aims to capture what we can learn from this research about the achievements and effectiveness of these institutions.
This field of research has significantly expanded in recent years and now represents a relatively comprehensive and diverse body of work. Among its merits is that it is independent and peer-reviewed and offers external, analytical perspectives on the work of NHRIs. The publication documents that the question of NHRI effectiveness is one of the major themes addressed.
The research on NHRI effectiveness shows a good grasp of the topic both in terms of the country contexts that NHRIs operate in - and that to a large extent determines how successful the promotion and protection work of an NHRI can be – as well as in terms of the role the Paris Principles play in facilitating effective NHRIs. There are constraints built into these Principles.
The publication concludes by highlighting four elements that the research literature seems to regard as particularly important for NHRIs to achieve effectiveness. The four areas are:
The conclusion also calls for the community of NHRIs to engage more deliberately and systematically with the effectiveness agenda.
Below you can see the table of content and the executive summary.
Click on the titel to access the full publication "Lessons from research on National Human Rights Institutions: A desk review on findings related to NHRI effectiveness".
