Zim to host African human rights conference

THE Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) will next month host the 13th Network of African National Human Rights Institutions (NANHRI) biennial conference.

The conference, which will be virtual, will run from November 3 to 5, and it follows a similar one that was hosted in 2019 in Cairo, Egypt, which discussed the implementation of the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration.

In a statement yesterday, the ZHRC said the biennial conference will deliberate on the contribution of the national human rights institutions to economic and development recovery beyond COVID-19.

“More than 100 participants drawn from the membership of NANHRI, regional and international States and inter-State institutions, as well as non-governmental organisations are expected to attend the conference,” the ZHRC said.

“This year’s conference will be organised under the theme Impact of COVID-19 on Human Rights in Africa: The Role of National Human Rights Institutions in Offering a Human Rights-Based Approach to Better and Sustainable Recovery Towards Development Beyond COVID-19.”

The rights body said the theme was informed by the fact that for close to two years since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Wuhan, China, measures to control and contain the pandemic have led to violations of economic, social, political, civil and cultural rights at national level across Africa.

“This has largely been attributed to the lack of consideration of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) as essential services, hence the limited monitoring of the enforcement of the measures,” ZHRC said.

It said the conference would result in the crafting of the Harare Declaration and Action Plan of the Network of African NHRIs, which will guide human rights institutions to come up with human rights-based approaches to ensure sustainable recovery beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.