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Protectors or Pretenders? - Government Human Rights Commissions in Africa, HRW Report 2001

Malawi








Overview

Summary

International Standards: The Paris Principles

Important Factors

Examining the Record in Africa

Innovative and Positive Contributions by Commissions

Regional Iniatives

The Role Of The International Community

Conclusion

Recommendations

Abbreviations

Acknowledgements




Funding

    By law, the government is supposed to fund the Human Rights Commission sufficiently to enable it to exercise its powers and perform its duties and functions so as to ensure its independence and impartiality. The commission may also receive donations, provided that this does not jeopardize its independence or impartiality.

    At the moment, the major problem facing the Human Rights Commission is the lack of adequate funding. The government, as a result of structural adjustment reforms put into place by the international financial institutions, has enacted strict budget controls. On a monthly basis, government departments are proportionally allocated the revenues actually collected by the treasury the previous month and nothing more. This has resulted in a shortfall for many government departments, including the Human Rights Commission. In the 1999 fiscal year, the anticipated working budget for the Human Rights Commission to effectively carry out its work was kwacha 31 million [approximately U.S.$700,000]. However, it received less than a quarter of that amount: only kwacha 7 million [approximately U.S.$160,000] was given intermittently to the commission over the year.149

    By the end of 1999, the Human Rights Commission has met with the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, UNDP, and other donors in order to raise money to meet the shortfall.

Human Rights Watch World Report 2001

Africa: Current Events Focus Pages

The Latest News - Archive

Countries


Benin

Cameroon

Chad

Ghana

Kenya

Liberia

Malawi

Mauritania

Nigeria

Rwanda

Senegal

Sierra Leone

South Africa

Sudan

Togo

Uganda

Zambia


Campaigns



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Human Rights Watch