History
Our visionA world where everyone everywhere fully enjoys their human rights
National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) have been recognized at the international level as actors for the promotion and protection of human rights since 1946. Throughout the next three decades the United Nations and some of its affiliated organizations prepared a series of reports on the feasibility of national institutions as instruments for protection and promotion of human rights. These reports culminated in the UN International Workshop on National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, held in Paris in 1991. The workshop led to the drafting of guiding principles – popularly known as the “Paris Principles” – that were adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993.
When NHRIs met in Tunis for their second international workshop, they decided to establish the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), previously known as the International Coordinating Committee of institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (ICC). Since then, the UN General Assembly has adopted numerous resolutions calling for the strengthening of NHRIs.
At an international workshop held in Tunis, Tunisia on 13 December 1993, a group of NHRIs set the foundation for the global network of national human rights institutions, known today as the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions.
1946
In 1946, the Economic and Social Council considered the issue of national institutions, two years before the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) became the “common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations”. Member states were invited to consider establishing information groups or local human rights committees.
1978
In 1978, the Commission on Human Rights organised a seminar which resulted in draft guidelines for the structure and functioning of institutions. The Commission on Human Rights and the General Assembly subsequently endorsed the guidelines. The General Assembly invited States to take appropriate steps to establish these institutions, where they did not already exist, and requested the Secretary-General to submit a detailed report on NHRIs.
1991
In 1991, the first international workshop on National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights took place in Paris. A key outcome was the Paris Principles relating to the status of national institutions.
1993
Since the Vienna World Conference in 1993, the Paris Principles are now broadly accepted as the test of an institution’s legitimacy and credibility. The importance of establishing and strengthening independent pluralistic NHRIs consistent with the Paris Principles has since been reaffirmed by the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council in various resolutions. The International Coordinating Committee of the national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (ICC) was then established.
Change of the organisation’s name
In March 2016, the ICC General Meeting endorsed the change of the organisation’s name from the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights to the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI).
From 2022 and onward
Today GANHRI, the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, brings together over 115 NHRIs from all regions of the globe and provides leadership and support in the promotion and protection of human rights.
Membership