IACHR announces technical cooperation and promotional visit to Barbados

October 4, 2024

Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) announces a technical cooperation and promotional visit to Barbados. The visit will take place from October 8^th to 11^th, 2024, to promote the Inter-American System of Human Rights, to the Commission's relations with the country with the objective of increasing collaboration in human rights and to promote technical cooperation mechanisms and capacity building.

This is the Commission's first technical cooperation visit to Barbados. The visit is in keeping with the priorities established in IACHR's Strategic Five-year Plan for the Caribbean (2023-2027) that places emphasis on the region. The specific objective of the visit is for the IACHR to learn of best practices, the needs and challenges faced by the State, civil society and other non-state actors with promoting and protecting human rights, and how best to respond.

The delegation will be led by Commissioner Gloria Monique De Mees, Country Rapporteur for Barbados. She is also the Rapporteur for Older Persons and for Persons of African Descent and against Racial Discrimination. She will be accompanied by specialists from the Executive Secretariat who represent various technical areas. The IACHR will hold meetings with authorities and representatives of the State, as well as with non-state actors, and will promote technical cooperation on prioritized human rights issues. Also, the agenda includes meetings with the United Nations, and other international organizations.

The visit will be conducted within the framework of actions that the IACHR highlighted as priorities when approving its Strategic Plan 2023-2027, particularly with respect to Program 17 on Prioritized Attention to the Caribbean. As such, the strategy is directed at providing technical cooperation on institutional matters and public policies with a focus on human rights; deepening awareness of state agents regarding structural problems that give rise to violations; increasing the capacity of State and non-state actors to promote and respect human rights; and strengthening its monitoring and follow up mechanisms to ensure compliance.

The IACHR acknowledges the collaboration and willingness of the State of Barbados to host this visit.

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 respect for and to defend 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 respective countries of origin or residence.

No. 240/24

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