Swiss competence center for human rights

The Swiss Competence Center for Human Rights (SKMR) is a university network with an office in Bern . As a service center, it supports authorities, non-governmental organizations and the private sector in implementing Switzerland's international human rights obligations.

Foundation and history

The foundation of the SCMR goes back to the request of 100 non-governmental organizations, trade unions, church institutions and personalities in summer 2001. They called for the creation of a national human rights institution in Switzerland.

This was followed in December 2001 by the parliamentary initiatives of Vreni Müller-Hemmi in the National Council and Eugen David in the Council of States to create a "Federal Commission for Human Rights". On July 1, 2009, the Federal Council decided to create a university service center as a temporary pilot project. However, the creation of an independent national human rights institution was deemed premature. The SKMR was opened in May 2011.

The mandate of the SCMR was originally limited to a pilot phase from 2011 to the end of 2015. On July 1, 2015, it was extended by the Federal Council for a maximum of five years and will continue until the end of 2020.

In June 2017, the Federal Council opened the consultation procedure on the preliminary draft law to support a national human rights institution. The consultation process ended in October 2017. The Federal Council has so far not presented the consultation report, nor has it presented a specific plan for setting up a successor institution .

Services

The SKMR bundles its work in six subject areas and four transversal priorities.

The subject areas are

Gender politics
Institutional issues
Child and Youth Policy
Human rights and business
migration
Police and judiciary.

The main focuses are

Human rights in the workplace
Restraint and deprivation of liberty
Access to justice
Rights of particularly vulnerable groups in practice.

As a service center, the SKMR offers studies, reports, analyzes as well as conferences and training courses on these subject areas and focal points. It also promotes public discussion about human rights and provides information on human rights issues.

The SKMR works on an order basis. By the end of 2018, it had published well over 50 studies and reports, as well as brochures and manuals on various topics. It has also organized over 50 events, workshops and training courses.

The clients of the SKMR include institutions such as prisons, retirement organizations, companies, child and adult protection authorities (KESB) and many more. IN the 2015 evaluation, 75% of those questioned stated the practical use of the SCMR as "high" or "very high".

structure

Subject areas

Each partner university provides human rights experts. They each work for one of the following subject areas:

Police and Justice (University of Bern)
Gender Policy (University of Bern)
Institutional questions (University of Freiburg)
Child and Youth Policy (University of Geneva)
Migration (University of Neuchâtel)
Human Rights and Business (University of Zurich)

director

The director is responsible for the overall coordination of the activities of the SKMR and represents the competence center externally. In particular, the director ensures the coherence and quality of the activities of the SKMR. The director of the SKMR is Jörg Künzli. He replaced Walter Kälin on January 1, 2016.

Office

The office is the contact point of the SKMR for all inquiries and mandates. She coordinates the implementation of the projects, organizes the exchange of information and supports the subject areas in operational matters. The tasks of the office also include internal and external communication.

Steering Committee

The steering committee is made up of representatives from the federal government. The steering committee approves the annual performance contract and controls the use of funds from the basic funding.

Advisory Board

The advisory board is made up of personalities from administration, politics, civil society and business. He advises the Board of Directors on its strategic direction and can make recommendations to the Board of Directors. The President of the Advisory Board is the old Councilor of States Eugen David.

financing

The SKMR receives annual basic funding from the federal government. For these, the SKMR provides services within the framework of a service agreement. In addition, the SCMR fulfills mandates from public authorities, NGOs and the private sector. The university cantons provide the infrastructure. In addition, some of the members of the Board of Directors are volunteers to a considerable extent.

Web links

Website of the SKMR

Individual evidence

↑ humanrights.ch: Switzerland needs a human rights commission! December 7, 2001, Retrieved July 9, 2019 .
^ Parliamentary initiative Müller-Hemmi 01.461 for a federal commission for human rights. Retrieved August 7, 2017 .
↑ Parliamentary Initiative David 01463 for a federal human rights commission. Retrieved August 7, 2017 .
^ Federal Council media release of July 1, 2009 on the pilot test for a competence center in favor of services in the human rights sector. Retrieved August 7, 2017 .
^ The Swiss Federal Council: Consultation on the preliminary draft law to support a national human rights institution. Swiss Federal Chancellery, June 28, 2017, accessed on July 9, 2019 .
↑ Another additional loop for the National Human Rights Commission - with what intention? Humanrights.ch , September 19, 2018, accessed on February 7, 2019 .
↑ Swiss Competence Center for Human Rights: Publications. Retrieved July 9, 2019 .
↑ ^a ^b Swiss Competence Center for Human Rights: Swiss Competence Center for Human Rights (SKMR): Milestones, figures and facts. Retrieved August 21, 2018 .

[1] umanrights.ch: Switzerland needs a human rights commission! December 7, 2001, Retrieved July 9, 2019 .

[2] Parliamentary initiative Müller-Hemmi 01.461 for a federal commission for human rights. Retrieved August 7, 2017 .

[3] Parliamentary Initiative David 01463 for a federal human rights commission. Retrieved August 7, 2017 .

[4] Federal Council media release of July 1, 2009 on the pilot test for a competence center in favor of services in the human rights sector. Retrieved August 7, 2017 .

[5] The Swiss Federal Council: Consultation on the preliminary draft law to support a national human rights institution. Swiss Federal Chancellery, June 28, 2017, accessed on July 9, 2019 .

[6] Another additional loop for the National Human Rights Commission - with what intention? Humanrights.ch , September 19, 2018, accessed on February 7, 2019 .

[7] Swiss Competence Center for Human Rights: Publications. Retrieved July 9, 2019 .

[:0-8] Swiss Competence Center for Human Rights: Swiss Competence Center for Human Rights (SKMR): Milestones, figures and facts. Retrieved August 21, 2018 .