GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMS Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): The MDGs represent a global partnership that has grown from the commitments and targets established at the world summits of the 1990s. Responding to the world’s main development challenges and to the calls of civil society, the MDGs promote poverty reduction, education, maternal health, gender equality, and aim at combating child mortality, AIDS and other diseases. Set for the year 2015, the MDGs are an agreed set of goals that can be achieved if all actors work together and do their part. Minimum core obligation: A basic standard that must be met by all states parties to an international agreement. The state party must still ensure that its obligations are progressively implemented over time. Monitoring bodies, when evaluating whether a state party is meeting its obligations under international law, will first examine whether the minimum core obligations have been met. For example, the ESC right of an adequate standard of living includes a minimum core obligation of access to adequate food. Mobility, right of: Also known as freedom of movement or right to travel.. The right of an individual lawfully within a territory of a state to have the right to liberty of movement and the freedom to choose his or her residence within that territory. It is also the right to be free to leave any country, including one’s own. The right of mobility is guaranteed by Art. 12 ICCPR. Restrictions on the right must be appropriate to achieve their purpose and must be the least intrusive instrument among available options and proportionate to the interest to be protected. Lawful restrictions should use precise criteria and not permit unfettered discretion. Monist: Many countries with civil law systems are “monist”, meaning that they accept ratified instruments automatically as part of domestic law. This means that rights and duties exist without the need for specific legislation. The Netherlands, France and Germany take a similar approach, as do other countries with a civil law tradition, including several Francophone countries in Africa. Montreal Principles on Women’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Montreal Principles): These principles aim to guide the understanding and implementation of the guarantees of non-discrimination and the equal exercise of economic, social and cultural rights, found in articles 3 and 2(2) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, so that women can benefit from these rights fully and equally. The Montreal Principles were adopted in December 2002 by a civil society expert group in Montreal, Canada. Nairobi Declaration on the Administration of Justice: The Declaration was adopted at the Ninth International Conference of National Human Rights Institutions (Nairobi, Kenya, 21-24 October 2008). The Declaration elaborates upon the important role that NHRIs play in ensuring an effective administration of justice, in particular with regard to access to justice, the judiciary, law enforcement and correctional and detention facilities. The Nairobi Declaration is an important tool for NHRIs in working in close cooperation with other stakeholders to ensure fair administration of justice. National human rights institution (NHRI): An institution with a constitutional and / or legislative mandate to protect and promote human rights. NHRIs are independent, autonomous institutions that operate at the national level. They are part of the State, are created by law, and are funded by the State. The Paris Principles broadly group NHRIs into three categories: human rights commissions, ombudsmen, and specialized national institutions designed to protect the rights of a particular vulnerable group (such as ethnic minorities, indigenous populations, refugees, women or children). In particular, the Paris Principles emphasize that NHRIs should be given “as broad a mandate as possible” and that they should be independent from the executive branch. National Institutions and Regional Mechanisms Section: The main entry point for the OHCHR’s efforts to establish and strengthen NHRIs, as well as for cooperation with NHRIs. National law (or domestic law): The internal rules and regulations of a sovereign state. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs): Organizations formed by and of people outside of Government. Nonprofit, human rights, humanitarian aid and grassroots organizations can all be NGOs. NGOs monitor the proceedings of human rights bodies such as the Human Rights Council and are the “watchdogs” of the human rights that fall within their mandate. Some are large and international (e.g. the Red Cross, Amnesty International, the Girl Scouts); others may be small and local (e.g. an organization to advocate for people with disabilities in a particular city; a coalition to promote women’s rights in xvii