On 8 October, the Human Rights Council adopted (by consensus) resolution 60/27 on ‘Promoting international cooperation to support national mechanisms for implementation, reporting, and follow-up’ (NMIRFs), presented by Paraguay and Brazil. In addition to once again underscoring the enormous potential of NMIRFs to help States ‘integrate their obligations and commitments under international human rights law into their national legislation and public policies,’ and thus – by extension – help them better implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the biennial text also recognised, and took forward, two important new developments. The first is the establishment of a global network of NMIRFs, similar to the Global Alliance of national human rights institutions (GANHRI). The second is the adoption, by States, UN agencies, and civil society organisations, of a first-ever set of universal guidelines to help governments establish and build efficient and effective NMIRFs – similar to the Paris Principles for the creation of NHRIs.
The goal of resolution 60/27, like its forerunner texts adopted by the Council, is to underline the immense value-added of NMIRFs for the on-the-ground implementation of international human rights standards, and thus for the impact and credibility of the multilateral human rights system. In this regard, the text encourages all States ‘to establish and/or strengthen national mechanisms for implementation, reporting and follow-up for further compliance with human rights obligations and commitments.’
In-so-doing, the resolution urges States to fully involve ‘all branches and levels of government, as well as of national statistics offices, national human rights institutions, civil society, academia and other relevant stakeholders’ in the operation of NMIRFs, to ensure the democratisation of implementation, national ownership of international human rights standards, and the effective translation of universal norms into local reality.
Resolution 60/27 furthermore seeks to promote the continued establishment and development of NMIRFs around the world, through the sharing of ‘good practices and experiences’ between States (including through north-south and south-north cooperation), and through the provision of ‘technical cooperation, provided in consultation with and with the consent of the State concerned,’ for example by OHCHR, other UN agencies and programmes, or specialist NGOs.
The foregoing is in line with earlier Council resolutions on the subject. However, resolution 60/27 is significant in that it takes forward the goal of establishing world-class NMIRFs in every UN member State, in two key ways.
First, the text ‘acknowledges the complementary and mutually reinforcing contributions of recent State-led initiatives to promote the establishment and strengthening of national mechanisms for implementation, reporting and follow-up, including the groundwork laid by the declaration adopted at the international seminar on national mechanisms for implementation, reporting and follow-up in the field of human rights held in Marrakech in December 2022, which contributed to the establishment of an international network of national mechanisms for implementation, reporting and follow-up pursuant to the declaration adopted in Asunción in May 2024.’
By providing a space for States to share experiences, good practices, and lessons learnt in the development of NMIRFs, the new International Network (the next meeting of which is expected to take place in Portugal in early 2026) is expected to provide a major boost to the quantitative and qualitative expansion of NMIRFs.
Second, the resolution recognises the adoption of ‘the Marrakech Guidance Framework […] in October 2024, during the tenth Glion Human Rights Dialogue.’
The Marrakech Guidance Framework (MGF) is a summary and distillation of good practices and lessons learnt (from all regions) shared between States, UN agencies, and civil society organisations during a wide range of (informal and formal) meetings and consultations held over the past five years. It is a voluntary framework that aims to help governments establish effective NMIRFs, and thereby systematically implement recommendations received from the UN human rights mechanisms (especially the UPR, Treaty Bodies, and Special Procedures) through new and improved laws, policies, and practices, and periodically report back on progress to the UN. As recognised in resolution 60/27, the MGF recognises that there is ‘no one-size-fits-all solution’ for establishing NMIRFs, yet there is ‘added value in learning from one another on the set-up, structure, and ways of operating that best fit the primary purpose of implementation of and reporting and follow-up on their international human rights obligations and commitments.’
With the adoption of the MGF, States have at their disposal – for the first time – a ‘blueprint’ for what an efficient and effective NMIRF should look like, and how to build or develop one.
In addition to recognising these important steps, resolution 60/27 also seeks to take them further forward, including by encouraging more States to establish or strengthen NMIRFs, more States to join the International Network, more UN agencies and bilateral donors to support governments in that regard, and – in all of this – for relevant stakeholders to be guided by the MGF. In that spirit, the Council, with resolution 60/27, decided to ‘convene at its sixty-fifth session a panel discussion for further exchange and review of the latest developments and outcomes of initiatives and activities carried out among States, with the support and participation of United Nations entities, civil society and other stakeholders,’ and requested OHCHR to prepare a report to inter alia raise awareness of and encourage more States to apply the MGF, and join the International Network.
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