ombudsman and a human rights commission. This section also strongly encouraged international assistance and cooperation aimed at strengthening Malawian NGOs. The plan addresses the issue of implementation in section E, in which it envisages seeking international assistance for establishing a secretariat for the Inter-ministerial Committee on Human Rights and Democracy that would facilitate achievement of the goals of the plan. This process would also identify obstacles and difficulties, which would form the basis of a successor plan of action. A national workshop involving representatives of the relevant ministries and all branches of government as well as NGOs, the media and the donor community was convened in 1996 to review the progress achieved under the plan. As might be expected for a relatively short plan with a limited number of priority goals, many of the objectives were achieved, although not within the two-year time frame. At the time of writing, the Government was considering adopting a second plan of action. 4.3 Latvia (1995) The “National Programme for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights in Latvia” is contained in a 30-page document. As in the case of the Malawi national plan of action, the preparation of the Latvian plan owed much to international technical advice, particularly through an international mission that visited Latvia in July 1994. The programme document itself does not specify how the programme was developed, but the international mission met with a broad range of government representatives, political figures, civil servants, NGOs and others. Two forums with NGOs were held before the plan was adopted by the Government. The programme does not attempt a systematic analysis of the situation of human rights in Latvia, but it does outline factors that make such a plan necessary, such as the perception that the term “human rights” had lost meaning over the years. Another feature of the programme is the importance it ascribes to the establishment of an independent institution for the protection of human rights that would provide information to the general public, prepare reports on human rights issues and review individual complaints. The concluding section describes this institution, the Human Rights Council of Latvia, as the centrepiece of the programme and sets out in detail the factors that make it necessary, its terms of reference and powers. The conclusions also outline a national programme of human rights education that should be one of the first priorities of the Council. The programme document has five substantive sections: 1. Education, training and information This area of the programme outlines the need for the introduction of human rights elements into the formal curriculum, teacher training, training for personnel in the legal system and information for the general public, including information on Latvia’s international human rights obligations. 27