Mauritania, Arab Network discuss rights protection

Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani receives a delegation from the Arab Network of National Human Rights Institutions

Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani met with a delegation from the Doha-based Arab Network for National Human Rights Institutions. The Mauritanian president discussed with HE the President of the Arab Network, Ahmed Salem Ould Bouhebeini, and HE the Secretary-General of the Network, Sultan bin Hassan al-Jamali and the accompanying delegation means to protect and promote human rights in the Arab region. The Arab Network concluded its international conference "Integrating Human Rights into Public Policies" which accompanied the Networks General Assembly in the capital Nouakchott on July 27-28. The General Assembly witnessed the transfer of the Network's presidency from the National Human Rights Committee in Qatar to the National Human Rights Commission in Mauritania. The National Council for Human Rights in Egypt was elected to host the next General Assembly. In a press statement, the president of the Arab Network noted that the conference resulted in many important decisions in promoting and protecting human rights in Arab countries. For his part, HE al-Jamali hailed Mauritania's hosting of the conference, and congratulated the National Human Rights Commission on its presidency of the Arab Network for this year. At the conclusion of the conference, the participants called on states to commit to respecting human rights, enacting laws and establishing procedures for redress. They called for a moral, ethical and political commitment to promoting and protecting human rights, and facilitating the realisation of human rights by strengthening people's capacities to meet their needs. Al-Jamali read out the conference's recommendations, which emphasised the importance of encouraging Arab countries to join all international human rights conventions, urging them to commit to submitting their reports on time and following up on the implementation of the recommendations contained in the reports of international committees, and to be guided by human rights principles and standards in the processes of designing and implementing policies and programmes to formulate desired results. The participants stressed the need to strengthen elections, democracy and pluralism in order to implement governance and integrate human rights into public policies to achieve sustainable development; and to promote the work of national human rights institutions to build the capacities of public policymakers and civil society organisations in order to enable them to own a human rights-based approach. Following the closing session of the conference, the Arab Network held a meeting of its Executive Committee to review the challenges and needs of national institutions and ways to overcome them, in addition to discussing the latest developments regarding member institutions. The next Executive Committee meeting will be held in Doha in February 2023.