On Wednesday 17 July, Rosslyn Noonan, former New Zealand Chief Human Rights Commissioner and one of the world’s leading experts on National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) joined us for a Brown Bag lunch session looking at Human Rights Accountability and Promotion - Reflections on the Role of National Human Rights Institutions.
Over the past 30 years, NHRIs across Asia and the Pacific have emerged as key independent entities holding governments accountable, protecting and promoting human rights, listening to victims, and providing access to remedies.
Rosslyn provided an outline of what an NHRI is along with their role and function within a society and the critical role they play for human rights in a region without a regional mechanism. She shared her experiences from working with NHRIs across the region, from Samoa to Palestine, providing insights into the workings of a Commission and the different forms they take.
About Rosslyn Noonan:
Rosslyn Noonan is a Human Rights Expert who has worked with Governments, National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) trade unions and CSOs across Asia, the Pacific, Europe and Africa. From 1988 until 1996 she was National Secretary of NZEI Te Riu Roa, one of New Zealand's three largest trade unions. As one of two New Zealand Workers’ delegates to the ILO, she was a member of the Workers’ Bureau that negotiated the ILO Convention against the Worst Forms of Child Labour. Then at Education International from 1996-2001, she was Coordinator for trade union and human rights, focusing on conflict areas.
She was New Zealand’s Chief Human Rights Commissioner for ten years from May 2001 to August 2011. During that time, she was responsible, among other things, for the development of New Zealand’s first National Human Rights Action Plan. She chaired the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions from 2010 to 2012. Since 2012 she has worked extensively with National Human Rights Institutions at their request, mostly through the Asia-Pacific Forum of NHRIS. At the invitation of Governments in the Pacific and beyond, she has undertaken scoping studies on the feasibility of establishing a national human rights institution and supported subsequent developments. In June 2020 she was awarded a Royal Honour for services to human rights and made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM).
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DTP acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we work, the Bedegal people of the Eora Nation. We recognise their lands were never ceded, and we acknowledge their struggles for recognition and rights and pay our respects to the Elders – past, present – and the youth who are working towards a brighter tomorrow. This continent always was and always will be Aboriginal land.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be aware that this website contains images or names of people who have passed away.
We are a proud partner of UNSW Law & Justice
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