Introduction

ENNHRI members have noted the limited awareness among national authorities of NHRIs as a challenge to the effectiveness of their work. This encompasses multiple factors: NHRIs’ mandates, roles, positions, powers, and relevant standards safeguarding their functioning. This low awareness also means that the added and unique value, and internationally protected position, of NHRIs is not fully understood – if at all. The resulting lack of cooperation with and by national authorities is affecting NHRIs’ core work and their ability to strengthen impacts for human rights in their country.  

In order to address this, we must consider what and how we communicate with national authorities on these fundamental topics.  

The following guidance addresses this. It has been crafted by NHRIs for NHRIs, including a two-day workshop in April 2024 with ENNHRI members and ENNHRI’s General Assembly in May 2024. 

Note: while the guidance focuses on communicating with national authorities, the key messages it outlines could also be used when communicating with other audiences. 

Purpose of the guidance, using it, and its audience

This guidance can help NHRIs strengthen understanding of and respect for their mandate, unique role and enabling space among national authorities, while also conveying their added value. It is based on international standards on NHRIs, including the Paris Principles and Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Recommendation on NHRIs (CM Recommendation). Yet the guidance is primarily focused on how these can be communicated in a way that resonates and is easily understood by state authorities and other stakeholders.  

It sets out key messages, approaches, and methods for how NHRIs can best communicate to national authorities their role and mandate and what they need to thrive (their enabling environment). Equally, the key messages could also be used when communicating with other audiences than national authorities.  

To illustrate and complement the above content, the guidance features experiences and examples from NHRIs.   

The guidance is designed to be adaptable and broadly applicable across the whole membership. Using the core information and concepts, NHRIs can take what they find relevant and tailor it to national context(s), combining different parts of the guidance as per their needs.  

This adaptability should also extend to different staff functions and varying scenarios. Be it an NHRI leader discussing their budget with a minister; an advisor writing a speech on how their institution benefits citizens; communications staff developing website messaging; or an expert on standards engaging with staff in government departments: they and others will hopefully find something to draw on. 

Finally, please note that national authorities are defined broadly in this guidance.