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Washington, D.C.—The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Paraguay signed a Memorandum of Understanding today for the exchange of experiences and reciprocal technical cooperation to develop joint human rights projects and activities and support the creation of the Inter-American System for Monitoring Recommendations of the IACHR.

Commissioner Francisco José Eguiguren Praeli, President of the IACHR, and Ambassador Federico A. González, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Paraguay, signed the Memorandum of Understanding during the Forum of the Inter-American Human Rights System in Washington, where the Commission is holding its 166th regular session.

“The IACHR is implementing strategies to improve the capacity to follow up on its recommendations. In this sense, it is important to emphasize the State of Paraguay’s commitment to support the national systems and processes in place to monitor human rights, and to take advantage of best practices in the region that could help to better the inter-American human rights system, designed to promote and protect human rights,” Commissioner Eguiguren said.

Paraguay’s System for Monitoring Recommendations (known as SIMORE) is a mechanism that includes a digital tool developed in cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. This tool helps to systematize the international human rights recommendations made to Paraguay and facilitates public access to updated information on steps taken by State institutions to comply with and implement the recommendations. The system has been replicated as a best practice in countries of the region such as Chile, Guatemala, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay.

In its Strategic Plan 2017-2021, the IACHR proposed developing a special cross-cutting program by which it expects to implement coordinated actions to follow up on the recommendations made through all its mechanisms. The first step to do that will be to set up a public database of IACHR recommendations in an Inter-American System for Monitoring Recommendations.

The Commission hopes to exchange information and work with the State of Paraguay to provide all users of the inter-American system with access to a tool that will help systematize, organize, and follow up on IACHR recommendations. The aim is to strengthen oversight and to report on progress and challenges related to actions carried out by States to comply with international obligations and guarantee the protection of human rights in the region.

For the Executive Secretary of the IACHR, Paulo Abrão, “this is an important step that benefits all of civil society in the Americas, as it contributes to the improvement of current mechanisms to follow up on the Commission’s recommendations by developing tools, in the medium term, that will facilitate transparency and public access to information, with the ultimate goal of promoting the effectiveness of the inter-American human rights system.”

As the next steps, the parties will work together to analyze the main components of the recommendation monitoring system so as to develop the IACHR’s own digital system, along with new interinstitutional assistance and cooperation initiatives to strengthen and consolidate the inter-American human rights system. The IACHR thanks the State of Paraguay for making its technical cooperation available and for this important contribution to the Commission’s work.

A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote the respect for and defense of human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 201/17