ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the role of National human rights institutions (NHRIs) in promoting and protecting human rights, with a specific focus on NHRIs in Africa. Its conceptual thrust will be the Paris Principles and in particular the NHRI role in relation to interaction with the international human rights mechanisms in order to bring changes at the domestic level in the human rights situation. The most effective national institutions generally have a broad and non-restrictive mandate, which includes civil, political, economic, and social and cultural rights. Programmes should focus on issues of immediate daily concern and be relevant to the public and to public bodies. Encouraging ratification of international human rights treaties is another functional requirement of NHRIs under the Paris Principles. However, there is limited awareness at the national level on the specific international treaties. NHRIs are a central component of a national human rights protection system.
