Human Rights Handbook for Parliamentarians

Parliamentarians know little about the international legal human rights framework, the obligations their countries have entered into by signing human rights treaties, and the various international and regional human rights bodies and mechanisms that exist to monitor their implementation. Indeed, parliamentarians could do a lot more in favour of human rights. In response to this, IPU and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) have created a Human Rights Handbook for Parliamentarians to enable parliamentarians to strengthen their role as guardians of human rights. It presents the notion of human rights and the core contents of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It specifies the obligations of States to protect and promote human rights, and contains suggestions as to action that parliaments and their members may take to contribute to their implementation.