ABU DHABI — The National Human Rights Committee held its second meeting under the chairmanship of Dr. Anwar Mohammed Gargash, minister of state for foreign affairs and chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

The committee discussed preparations for the national human rights plan, which will serve as a comprehensive and integrated national human rights framework in the UAE for the coming years.

The plan aims to strengthen the UAE's efforts and underscore the measures it has taken in the context of its regional and international commitments.

Gargash stressed that the UAE is keen to develop its institutional frameworks for human rights. The national plan will build on the national policies, plans and strategies adopted by the UAE government that promote human rights, and is part of the UAE’s Vision 2021.

He stated that the plan would bring many benefits to the UAE, the most important of which was documenting the country's efforts in the field of human rights.

It will also contribute to raising awareness, building capacity and developing national human rights specialists, as well as strengthening cooperation and partnerships with relevant United Nations agencies, mechanisms and committees.

The minister stressed that the first step in these preparations would be to examine the gains, efforts and achievements in human rights in the UAE.

The following step would be to conduct a consultative process with civil society institutions in the UAE, and launch a community dialogue involving universities, academic institutions and others to involve more people in the preparation of the plan, which ultimately serves the interests of the community.

It should be noted that during the Vienna Declaration and its Action Program, adopted in 1993, the World Conference on Human Rights recommended that countries consider developing national action plans that outline the steps through which they intend to promote and protect human rights.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has also prepared guidelines on the preparation of national action plans in this area. — WAM