CULTURAL RIGHTS
5. Uganda Human Rights Commission
The Uganda Human Rights Commission is a statutory body established to protect and promote human rights. The functions of the Commission are outlined in the country’s Constitution and the Human Rights Commission Act No.4 of 1997 and in-clude those of:
◆ Establishing a continuing programme of research, education and information to enhance respect for human rights;
◆ Recommending to Parliament effective measures to promote human rights, in-cluding the provision of compensation to victims of violations of human rights, or their families;
◆ Formulating, implementing and overseeing programmes intended to inculcate in the citizens of Uganda awareness of their civic responsibilities and an apprecia-tion of their rights and obligaapprecia-tions as free people.
The Constitution of Uganda contains provisions addressing economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to education, the right to culture, the right to a clean and healthy environment, and the right to work. The Constitution requires the Human Rights Commission to develop programmes and activities to promote and
Appropriate treatment is the third element of accessibility. A national human rights in-stitution will not be accessible if those whose rights are violated find it unapproachable, unfriendly or difficult to deal with. Working methods and procedures must be appro-priate for victims and potential victims of violations. Services and documents should be provided in a range of relevant languages. Members and staff of the institution should include persons drawn from historically marginalized groups, such as women, ethnic and racial minority groups, persons with disabilities and groups whose rights are vio-lated or at risk.
Cooperation
The Paris Principles recognize that an effective national human rights institution will not function alone but will establish and strengthen cooperative relationships with a wide range of organizations and groups.
National human rights institutions have unique mandates and functions, but they should exercise them collaboratively in association with other democratic mechanisms with responsibility for the protection and promotion of human rights, including the Government, the legislature, the judiciary, the police and the military, and non-govern-mental and civil society organizations, and with individual citizens.
Establishing and maintaining close contact with non-governmental organizations and civil society is crucial as these groups are involved directly and indirectly in the promo-tion and protecpromo-tion of human rights.
A national human rights institution should also be concerned to work cooperatively, wherever possible, with local communities and marginalized groups. It should see its role as empowering those at most risk of human rights violations with the means to protect and promote their own rights. Victims and potential victims have the right to participate and so should be essential participants in developing and implementing the strategies, programme and activities of the national human rights institution.
Operational efficiency and capacity
A national human rights institution, it seems, will always have to meet great needs and demands with limited resources. Like any other organization, it will need to ensure that its methods of work are as efficient and effective as possible.
Managing limited resources effectively may require strict setting of priorities and adher-ence to fixed and approved strategic plans and budgets. A national human rights insti-tution may need to seek external financial and technical support. It will find that electronic information and communications technology and resources are essential to operational efficiency and capacity and so should seek to acquire the best available.
A national human rights institution will need defined working methods and rules of procedures for matters such as the establishment of working groups, procedures to be followed for investigating complaints, inquiry and research methodology and the tim-ing and frequency of staff meettim-ings and traintim-ing. Developtim-ing and promottim-ing adherence to certain methods and procedures will help to maximize operational efficiency.
They will also ensure that the most urgent situations receive the speedy attention they require.
Staff must be committed to human rights, knowledgeable, sensitive and skilful in per-forming their functions. They should be efficient and objective in their work. They will require clear job descriptions and fair and effective recruitment, assessment and pro-motion procedures. Both new and established staff will require, and be entitled to, good training.
A national human rights institution should review and evaluate regularly not only its overall performance but also its structure, management, processes and procedures, specific activities and programmes.
Accountability
Institutional effectiveness requires the development of a system of accountability based on specific, ascertainable goals. Besides legal and financial accountability to the Government and/or Parliament, a national human rights institution also needs to find ways to be accountable to those groups and individuals whose rights it is established to promote and protect. Its procedures and processes, for example, should be visible and transparent. Its decision-making processes should be open, rational, consistent and shared. Developing mission and values statements, strategic objectives and plans, staff codes of ethics, quality service standards and procedural handbooks can be an impor-tant tool for the national human rights institution to ensure, communicate and be ac-countable for high standards of achievement.
Self and public evaluations of a national human rights institution’s performance, includ-ing annual reportinclud-ing on its activities, results and use of its resources, will further con-tribute to the institution’s public accountability. These evaluations should be subject to open scrutiny, comment and debate.