The Network of African National Human Rights Institutions formerly known as the Coordinating Committee of African National Human Rights Institutions is the regional representative body that brings together about 30 African National Human Rights Institutions. The Network of African National Human Rights Institutions is currently registered under Kenyan law as an independent legal entity. The Network seeks to support and strengthen National Human Rights Institutions in Africa. The Network’s activities are coordinated by the Secretariat of African National Human Rights Institutions.
The idea of the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions, formally known as the Coordinating committee of African National Human Rights Institutions, was conceived at the first Conference of African National Human Rights Institutions that took place in Yaoundé Cameroon in 1996. At the end of this Conference, the participants adopted the Yaoundé Declaration, which established a loose association of independent African National Human Rights Institutions accredited to the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions. This loose association was known as the Coordinating Committee of African National Human Rights Institutions.
Initially, the Coordinating Committee was not registered under any law and thus did not have any legal identity. For a long time Committee conducted its affairs by using the title of the member institution which hosted it at the time. The following countries hosted the Coordinating Committee: Cameroon from 1996-1998, South Africa 1998-2001, Togo 2001-2002, Uganda 2002 - 2004, and Nigeria 2005 – 2007.
During the 6th Conference of African National Human Rights Institutions held in Kigali in October 2007, the General Assembly signed the Constitution that had earlier been adopted in Bolivia. The Coordinating Committee of African National Human Rights Institutions is currently governed by this Constitution. The signing of the Constitution also saw a change in name of the coordinating body from the Coordinating Committee of African National Human Rights Institutions to the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions, which is currently chaired by Rwanda.
