As effective consultation is an integral part of the cost of an effective plan,
governments should ensure that adequate resources are allocated to this function of
NGO coordinating bodies. The costs involved in the NGO coordination process will
include travel, communications, preparation and dissemination of materials and hire
of venues.
It is desirable to supplement the coordinating and representative role of leading NGOs
by involvement in the consultation process of many other organizations engaged in
the promotion and protection of human rights. These could include trade unions,
professional associations, jurists and organizations representing women, children,
minorities, indigenous people, persons with disabilities, rural dwellers and so on. The
coordinating committee should give particular attention to ensuring effective
consultation with representative members of vulnerable groups, which may be defined
somewhat differently from country to country.
6.4
NGOs and community-based organizations dealing with
economic, social and cultural rights
The coordinating committee should make a particular effort to ensure the effective
involvement in the consultation process of NGOs and community-based organizations
(CBOs) dealing with economic and social issues as well as their counterpart
government agencies. The importance of economic, social and cultural rights and the
indivisibility of human rights are important themes that should be fully addressed
under any plan. A valuable outcome should be increased awareness among those
working in relevant fields, as well as among the general public, of economic, social
and cultural rights such as the rights to health, housing and education and the right to
development. This will promote a rights-based approach to these issues, centering on
the entitlements of individuals and groups, as opposed to the more common servicedelivery approach that lays primary emphasis on political, bureaucratic and budgetary
considerations. Work on these issues within the framework of the national plan will
assist in the development of benchmarks that can be used in other contexts, for
example reporting under relevant human rights treaties.
6.5
Educators, representatives of academic institutions, research
institutions and human rights experts
Promoting and protecting human rights are long-term activities in which a country’s
education system plays an important part. The involvement of educators and
representatives of educational institutions in the national action plan process will:
• Encourage more effective relations with the education system;
• Promote better provisions on human rights education in the plan; and
• Facilitate better implementation of the plan's provisions within the education
system.
Consultation with those associated with research institutions will also assist in
ensuring that the plan’s impact is disseminated on a wider and longer-term basis.
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