Human rights expert Professor Renee Jeffery from the School of Government and International Relations and The Griffith Asia Institute has been awarded an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship announced by the Federal Minister for Education Dan Tehan today.
The project will examine the roles played by National Human Rights Institutions in six Asian countries that have undergone political transitions, from authoritarian rule to democracy, or from conflict to a post-conflict peace process, including Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Timor-Leste.The Danish Institute for Human Rights, the only NHRI with a global mandate, will serve as a hostinstitution and research partner during theproject.
Professor Jeffery said NHRIs were charged with the grave and important tasks of protecting and promoting human rights, and addressing the aftermath of human rights violations.
“Their establishment and administration requires significant efforts on the parts of practitioners and policymakers and there are considerable costs associated with their operation,” she said.
“Understanding whether NHRIs provide an effective means of protecting and promoting human rights during periods in which human rights are under serious threat is thus of vital importance, to policymakers, practitioners and, mostimportantly, the individuals and communities they serve.”