NHRAP published on the internet
Rasika Somarathna
Sri Lanka's National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of
Human Rights (NHRAP) was published on the internet yesterday.
The NHRAP was published to coincide with Human Rights Day, which is
observed each year on December 10 to commemorate the adoption of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations
General Assembly on December 10, 1948.
Human Rights Day originated in 1950 when the UN General Assembly
invited all nations to observe December 10 as Human Rights Day by way of
its resolution 423(V).
The NHRAP was conceived of as part of Sri Lanka's participation in
the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process before the United Nations
Human Rights Council in 2008. One of the main pledges made was to adopt
and implement a national plan of action that would encapsulate all
national efforts towards improvement in human rights promotion and
protection in the country.
This initiative, which commenced in 2008, involved all stakeholders
in the process of preparation and a final text was presented to the
Cabinet in September 2011. The Cabinet approved the NHRAP and also the
process of implementation, coordination and monitoring began in December
2011.
Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe who oversaw the process of preparation
as the then Human Rights until 2010, has been granted the responsibility
of coordinating and monitoring the implementation of the NHRAP by the
Cabinet.
The process of implementation is nearing 12 months since inception.
The minister will oversee a review of progress at the end of the year
together with the approximately 50 agencies of government that are
responsible for implementation. The NHRAP is for a five year duration
and relevant activities are expected to be completed by 2016.
Plantation Industries Minister Samarasinghe who is the Special Envoy
of the President on Human Rights, observed that by making the text of
the NHRAP available to all interested parties, a broader awareness of
national initiatives in the sphere of human rights is created. It is
expected that the Plan “made available in Sinhala, Tamil and English
“will help generate greater interest in human rights issues, inspire
national, regional and community level projects and initiatives
supportive of the national endeavour.
Sri Lanka which participated in its second UPR process in Geneva in
November 2012, outlined progress made to date and underscored the
importance of the NHRAP in the promotion and protection of human rights
as well as contributing towards reconciliation and peace-building
initiatives of the government.
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