APF members elected a new Governance Committee during the 27th APF Annual General Meeting, held virtually on 14-15 September.

APF members elected a new Governance Committee during the 27th APF Annual General Meeting, held virtually on 14-15 September.

Doo-Hwan Song, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, was elected as the new Chairperson of the APF. He will lead the APF Governance Committee for a period of two years.

“Thank you for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the leadership of the APF,” said Mr Song. “As an APF Governance Committee member I will be committed to strengthening the cooperation and capacities of APF members.”

Mr Song will be joined on the APF Governance Committee by Khunan Jargalsaikhan, Chief Commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission of Mongolia (as Deputy Chairperson), and Justice Arun Kuma Mishra, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of India (as Member).

Other decisions taken by APF Forum Councillors at the annual meeting included:

• Welcoming the NHRIs of Iraq and Thailand as full members of the APF, following their accreditation as ‘A status’ institutions by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) Sub-Committee on Accreditation (SCA).
• Electing the Australian Human Rights Commission and the National Human Rights Commission of India, as APF representatives to the GANHRI Bureau.
• Electing the New Zealand Human Rights Commission as the Asia Pacific region's member on the GANHRI Subcommittee on Accreditation.

The Annual Meeting was also an opportunity for APF members, along with representatives from other NHRIs in the Asia Pacific region, to share an overview of their current activities and achievements.

The first day of the meeting was focused on the theme “A universal human right to a healthy, sustainable environment – the role of NHRIs”, and included a video presentation by Dr Ian Fry, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change.

As Special Rapporteur, Dr Fry’s role involves studying the effects of climate change on human rights and integrating the findings into policy making. During his presentation, he shared how NHRIs can engage and collaborate with his work.

This was followed by an interactive dialogue between NHRIs in the region on the human rights impacts of environmental degradation and climate change.

During the session, Atty Jacqueline de Guia, Executive Director at the Philippines Commission on Human Rights, provided an overview of the Commission’s inquiry on human rights and climate change, while Dr Ahmed Adham, Vice President of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives, presented a report by the GANHRI Caucus on Climate Change.

Romulo Nayacelevu, APF Expert Facilitator, presented on the APF’s project on strengthening engagement between NHRIs and Inter-Governmental Mechanisms in South-East Asia and the Pacific. 

Date: 30 September 2022