NHRIs can do a lot to further the cause of reproductive rights. To play such a role, however, there are some preconditions:
4. The NHRI should consider its mandate.
Most NHRIs have a mandate that covers all human rights. Since the main global and regional human rights instruments protect reproductive rights, a mandate to protect and promote human rights in general also includes reproductive rights. Some NHRIs have a mandate that refers only to human rights protected by national law. If national law incorporates the provisions of the main international human rights instruments, either by reference or by repetition,2 even without mentioning reproductive rights directly,
reproductive rights that are part of civil and political rights.
5. The main practical precondition is knowledge. The first step is to make sure that the NHRI has the neces-sary knowledge in house. Not only should the NHRI ensure that relevant texts (such as the ICPD Programme of Action, the various publications from OHCHR, UNFPA, WHO, etc.) are avail-able; it must also ensure that there are staff members with knowledge of reproductive rights. Ideally, all profes-sional staff members should have a basic knowledge of reproductive rights sufficient to identify such issues in their general work, just as all staff members
to carry out such training and the NHRIs in Bangladesh and Nepal both plan to develop an internal orientation pro-gramme on reproductive rights with expertise drawn from UNFPA, NGOs and government. In addition to UNFPA, women’s commissions, women’s
groups, health professionals and aca-demic institutions for example will often have relevant information to share on reproductive rights.3 Practice can also generate learning and knowledge. Once the basic knowledge is available, there is no reason why a NHRI should not start working within reproductive rights and then expand its knowledge in parallel to working within the area.
6. Given that reproductive rights are a con-stellation of rights that straddle several of the basic human rights instruments, their scope and meaning is not always clear. Consequently, once some initial knowledge has been acquired, it might be advisable to prepare a position paper or a policy document, setting out the NHRI’s understanding and position on reproductive rights and how the NHRI plans to promote and protect these rights in practice. On this basis, the NHRI could make a plan for its first goals and corresponding activities within the field of reproductive rights.
7. Another question concerns the adminis-trative assignment of the responsibility for reproductive rights. Should the NHRI
be split up and dealt with by existing departments, for instance departments dealing with women’s rights, children’s rights and the right to health? An exam-ple of the latter approach is the NHRI in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
If reproductive rights are placed in, for example, the women’s rights depart-ment, it is important to remember to cover also the issues that might not nor-mally fall within the ambit of the depart-ment, such as the reproductive rights of men.
Some NHRIs are not organized around substantive human rights but rather based on the different tasks set out in the Paris Principles, with one depart-ment dealing with complaints, another with monitoring, one with education etc.
In such a case, reproductive rights must be anchored in all departments. The NHRI in Uganda deals with reproduc-tive rights in several of its directorates, including the Directorate of Monitoring and Inspections but also has units such as the Health Unit and the Vulnerable Person’s Unit that are involved in repro-ductive rights.
Some NHRIs might find that they can have more impact if one department is dedicated to work on reproductive rights. Others may decide, perhaps due to the controversial aspects of repro-ductive rights, to link the work to other interventions. How the government
the organization within government may be the most productive for the NHRI.
In any event, for its internal purposes a NHRI should monitor all work done within the field of reproductive rights, regardless of organization.
8. Many NHRIs are doing work within reproductive rights without being aware of this. They might have considered complaints of lack of access to maternal care but seen this as only a violation of the right to health. They might have done promotional work on early marriages but seen this as an issue only relating to the rights of women and/or children. Conse-quently, a NHRI should consider making a review of what it already does within the field of reproductive rights. This will also enable the NHRI to consider if some of the activities being carried out can be strengthened and if a reproductive rights angle can be added to its other activities.
9. In addition, or as an alternative, to developing its own plan of action, a NHRI could develop a joint plan with relevant partners. Such partners could include other independent commis-sions (some countries like India have for example women’s commissions or ombudspersons), ministries or depart-ments within government (some coun-tries have special secretaries dealing with women’s rights, for example), professional groups, and relevant parts
10. Many NHRIs have incorporated the
practice of developing periodic strategic plans. Rather than carrying out unre-lated individual activities while worthy and important, a strategic plan enables a NHRI to consider how each of its activities furthers its overall goals and whether the activities can be organized in such a way as to create synergies. A NHRI that decides to take on the chal-lenges of reproductive rights should include reproductive rights in its strate-gic plan.
11. It is always good to lead by example.
Therefore, a NHRI should ensure to have internal policies, programmes and regu-lations in place that protect, respect and promote the reproductive rights of the staff within the NHRI. This includes the following:
a. Female staff should be allowed maternity leave for at least 16 weeks in accordance with WHO recom-mendations and with reasonable pay. Naturally, this is less of a con-cern in countries that have sufficient rules and practices in place in gen-eral. Leave should also be available to fathers. This is not only for the fathers’ sake but also emphasizes the responsibility of both parents. Breast-feeding mothers should be able to plan their work in such a way as to enable breastfeeding according to
this includes access to the full range of reproductive health services, including family planning and contra-ception. This is for example the case for the NHRIs in Uganda and Jordan.
c. The NHRI should have a policy in place with respect to sexually trans-mitted infections, in particular HIV/
condoms.
d. The NHRI should have other relevant policies and guidelines in place, such as a policy regarding sexual harass-ment and a policy on non-discrimi-nation, including on the basis of sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, or any other status.