Human Rights
The Commonwealth Foundation, together with the UK Government, British Overseas Territories' administrations and other Commonwealth organisations, has initiated a project to build capacity for human rights.
The four year programme, which started in July 2007, is being funded by the UK's Department for International Development (DFID). It will provide multi-sectoral human rights support to Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Montserrat, Pitcairn, Saint Helena and its Dependencies (Ascension and Tristan da Cunha) and Turks and Caicos Islands.
This programme aims to enable British Overseas Territories (OTs) to observe human rights obligations in a way that is consistent with international standards and will benefit both governments and civil society in the OTs involved. It follows from commitments made by the UK Government including: its 1999 White Paper on the Overseas Territories; the joint DFID and FCO report “Realisation of Human Rights in the UK Overseas Territories;” and consultations between governments in 2005.
The programme has three objectives:
(1) Increasing the commitment by Overseas Territories Governments and partners to an improved human rights agenda.
(2) Increasing the awareness and capacity of governments and civil society to address human rights issues in the long term.
(3) Strengthening human rights reporting and monitoring arrangements in accordance with relevant international treaties.
There are essentially two kinds of activity combined within this programme: a human rights education/training/advocacy dimension; and a more specific legal dimension including, for example, legislative drafting and the implementation of human rights provisions into local legislation and practice.
Overall, rather than focussing on law-maker's technical challenges, the programme aims to build capacity, not only of governments, but also of civil society towards maintaining the delivery of human rights standards in the OTs into the future.
