The Delegation for Human Rights in Sweden
In March 2006, the Government appointed the Delegation for Human Rights in Sweden (Ju2006:02) to support the long-term work to ensure full respect for human rights in Sweden.
Background
In the written communication A National Action Plan for Human Rights 2006–2009 (Govt. Comm. 2005/06:95), the Government takes a comprehensive approach to human rights in Sweden. The action plan, which contains a list of some one hundred measures in different policy areas, provides a tool for the work of ensuring full respect for human rights in Sweden and is intended for use by central government and government agencies, municipalities and county councils alike. The Delegation is one of the measures in the action plan and works on the basis of the written communication.
Terms of reference
Under its mandate the Delegation will
- support government agencies, municipalities and county councils in their work to ensure full respect for human rights in their activities,
- develop and implement strategies to increase information and knowledge about human rights in various target groups in society, partly by coordinating the EU initiative European Year of Equal Opportunities for All and the Council of Europe campaign All Different – All Equal in Sweden,
- stimulate public debate on human rights, and
- present proposals on how to provide continued support to work towards ensuring full respect for human rights in Sweden after the Delegation has completed its mandate in march 2010.
Human Rights
Human rights are the entitlement of each individual human being – girl or boy, woman or man, alone or jointly with others. They are an expression of the obligations of the public sector towards the individual. Ultimately these obligations rest with the Government but they are also incumbent upon government agencies, municipalities and county councils. These obligations, and the work to effectively implement human rights, derive from the binding commitments Sweden has made by acceding to international human rights agreements. Human rights are also expressed in the Swedish Constitution and in the Act concerning the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1994:1219).
The composition of the Delegation
The Delegation for Human Rights in Sweden consists of ten members, with expertise and experiences of work for human rights. In addition, it has a number of experts from different governmental agencies linked to it. Its office consists of four secretaries.
In December 2009 the government decided to give delegation extended time until September 30, 2010 to work on the final report. The work during 2010 will focus on the fourth task, to present proposals on how to provide continued support to work towards ensuring full respect for human rights in Sweden after the Delegation has completed its mandate.
