Sudan National Human Rights Commission
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In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Republic of Sudan National Human Rights Commission Strategic Plan 2014 – 2018 February 2014 Table of Content EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................... 2 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 3 APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................................................... 3 CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS (KEY ASSUMPTIONS AND RISKS) ................................................................................................... 4 DURATION OF STRATEGIC PLAN ........................................................................................................................................ 4 2. BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................................... 4 3. VISION ........................................................................................................................................................... 5 4. MISSION ........................................................................................................................................................ 5 5. STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES .................................................................................................................................. 5 6. STRATEGIC PLAN ............................................................................................................................................ 5 THREE PHASES .............................................................................................................................................................. 6 Phase II: Capacity Development (2015-2016 ........................................................................................................ 6 CURRENT CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES ........................................................................................................................ 7 SOURCES ...................................................................................................................................................................... 7 PHASE I: GOVERNANCE AND SUSTAINABILITY (2014) ........................................................................................................... 7 1. Preliminary work .......................................................................................................................................... 7 2. Infrastructure and Operations ..................................................................................................................... 9 3. Organizational Development ..................................................................................................................... 10 4. Complaints management .......................................................................................................................... 12 5. Establishing a Regional Presence in Conflict Areas .................................................................................... 13 PHASE II STRENGTHENING CAPACITY (2015-2016) ......................................................................................................... 15 6. Targeted Training and Professional Development..................................................................................... 15 7. Strengthen complaints management, investigations, monitoring ............................................................ 16 8. Public education and awareness ............................................................................................................... 18 9. International Cooperation ......................................................................................................................... 19 10. Advice and Assistance to Government .................................................................................................. 20 11. Knowledge Management II ................................................................................................................... 20 PHASE III: GROWTH AND EXPANSION (2 YEARS: 2017-2018) ............................................................................................. 21 12. Enhance program operations in the areas of monitoring, legislative and policy review, and regional expansion .............................................................................................................................................. 22 13. Specialized Training to upgrade skills and abilities ............................................................................... 23 14. Knowledge Management III .................................................................................................................. 23 15. Outreach and Education ........................................................................................................................ 24 16. Thematic Programming: Suggested area: Women, Family, and Child Rights ....................................... 25 7. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................... 26 8. APPENDIX I: PROJECT ACTIVITY FRAMEWORK (PHASE I & II) ....................................................................... 27 1 Executive summary The Strategic Plan of the National Human Rights Commission sets out the vision, mission and strategic priorities of the Commission for a five-year period, building on the values and culture of Sudan that inform the pluralism and diversity of its society. In order for the Plan to succeed, the Commission will require resources, logistical support and political will to support its independence and effectiveness in promoting and protecting human rights. It will further require support from partners in civil society and the international community in the different phases of the Plan. The overall objective is to strengthen institutional capacities, build constructive engagement with civil society and promote effective linkages with the international human rights system, while enhancing its institutional independence. Consequently, this Plan takes into consideration the role of civil society not only as a beneficiary but also as a supporter of the overall Strategic Plan. The National Human Rights Commission has established the following strategic objectives: • The institutional capacity and independence of the Commission; • Human rights dimensions of the peace process and transitional justice, with a focus on conflict areas; • Promoting awareness of human rights; • Harmonizing Sudan’s laws and policies with international human rights law, including in the new constitution; • Reporting on the human situation in Sudan to encourage a realistic assessment of human rights in the country; • Protecting human rights though monitoring and through an effective complaints system; • Build, maintain relations and interact positively with regional and international human rights mechanisms and institutions. The Commission plans to implement these objectives through a three-phased approach, with outputs and activities aligned with each phase. • Phase I: Governance and Sustainability (2014): Phase I is aimed at creating a sufficient institutional base and a critical mass of resources for the Commission, including human resources, to ensure that basic human rights protection and promotional activities can proceed. Therefore, in this phase the project aims to ensure the establishment of foundations for planning, project management, internal governance, financial sustainability, organizational development, and complaints management of the Commission. • Phase II: Capacity Development (2015 – 2016): Phase II builds on the foundations established in Phase I, and expands human rights programming. In the second phase, Commission members and staff obtain knowledge, skills and working tools required for them to carry out human rights promotion and protection activities effectively. 2 • Phase III: Growth and Expansion (2017 – 2018): In the third phase, the Commission develops and enhances its capacity to handle complaints in a professional and effective manner, deliver substantial public education and awareness programs, and issue well- developed publications and reports. The Commission expands its regional presences to other conflict areas or regions and develops specialized programming in selected thematic areas. This phase is indicative only, and is not developed in detail. The first two phases (2014 -2016) are the focus of this document. Details of each Phase are set out in the narrative sections and in the Project Activity Framework in Appendix. 1. Introduction The National Human Rights Commission was established in January 2012 by Presidential Decree, pursuant to the 2009 National Human Rights Commission Act and Article 142 of the 2005 Interim National Constitution of the Republic of Sudan (the 2005 Constitution). Although these events demonstrate political will to create a national human rights institution, the delay in actually establishing the Commission raised expectations both inside and outside Sudan about what the Commission could reasonably accomplish in the brief period since the Commissioners were named in 2012.