Building Access to Justice and Human Rights in East Sudan: UNDP and National Human Rights Commission launch the first Human Rights Office in Kassala

Independent national human rights institutions are a crucial foundation for a country’s democratic environment to promote and protect the values of human rights. For years, UNDP has collaborated with national partners in strengthening human rights promotion and protection mechanisms to build the capacity of state institutions with the aim of improving democratic governance, participation and fostering inclusiveness and reducing inequalities in Sudan.  

In this regard, UNDP and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) inaugurated the first National Human Rights Commission office in Kassala on October 30th.

The newly established office is to contribute to the protection, promotion and monitoring of human rights in the Eastern States of Sudan; Kassala, Gedarif and Red Sea.

The Governor of Kassala state Mr. Yassin Gaffer and Chairperson NHRC Ms. Horiya Ismail attended the inauguration ceremony in addition to key representatives, of UNDP, the judicial organs in the state as well as civil society organizations and human rights advocates. To improve access to justice in the three states, the office constitutes of three sections: Complaints section, Administration section and Communication section.

Since 2012, UNDP has launched the ‘Strengthening the capacity of Sudan National Human Rights Commission’ project to provide capacity building and technical support to the NHRC.

Since its inception, the project has been working closely with the NHRC’s Complaints Committee on human rights violations through the introduction of an automated case management system and the continuous holding of trainings and workshops to enhance the Complaints Committee’s  ability to carry out investigations.