CHRAJ to develop a national human rights plan

Dodowa, Sept. 10, GNA - The Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), would soon come out with a National Human Rights Plan of Action (NHPA), which would seek to identify steps needed to promote and protect human rights.

The Plan would also identify specific human rights challenges needed to be overcome, specific objectives, as well as performance indicators that could be used to measure progress in human rights promotion and also establish a firm time frame in which an action on human rights should be taken.

Addressing human rights stakeholders meeting which would develop this plan on Thursday, Ms Anna Bossman, Deputy Commissioner of CHRAJ said Ghana firmly believed in human rights hence the need to come out with a plan which would serve as a yardstick. She called for proper education on human rights since many Ghanaian were not aware of their rights and responsibilities. Ms Bossman condemned the authorities for their decision to eject the squatters at Sodom and Gomorrah without alternative place of settlement.

He said "If the nation has a plan which is well shared and understood, I do not think they would have gone to squat there in the first place".

Mr. Joe Whittal, Director of Legal and Investigations, CHRAJ, said the concept of NHPA was conceived in 1993 at a conference on human rights in Vienna.

"The conference resolved that since no country could claim a perfect human rights record, each country should identify areas where they did not measure up and draw a national plan of action identifying ways to improve the situation," he explained. Mr. Whittal pointed out that the review of a country's human rights required the mobilisation of a broad spectrum of society in a cooperative atmosphere, the setting of achievable human rights targets and the generation of commitment towards human rights actions as some of the benefits to be derived from the introduction of NHRP in the country. "We will also be able to promote linkages with other national programmes, particularly in development, education and raise awareness on human rights issues among government official, civil authorities and the public," he said.