National Human Rights Action Plans (NHRAPs) are a critical way of implementing human rights in practice and were marked as a “key element” of every national human rights system by the UN General Assembly. Over the last thirty years, at least 155 NHRAPs have been adopted in more than 80 countries across the world. Like Scotland, 35 countries have adopted more than one plan.  

The development of SNAP builds on the experience of European countries such as Finland, Sweden and Spain and Commonwealth countries such as Australia, South Africa and New Zealand as well as guidance from the United Nations, Council of Europe and Commonwealth.  

Over the past three decades the UN has encouraged and supported countries to develop NHRAPs, stressing their importance in identifying gaps in human rights protection, clarifying the responsibilities of States, and establishing monitoring systems so that progress made in promoting and fulfilling human rights protection can be measured over time.  

In 2009, the Council of Europe (CoE) also recommended that national human rights action plans be used to systematically implement human rights by countries across Europe – a message the CoE repeated in 2017.  

Recently, SNAP2 Co-Chairs joined the Global Network on National Human Rights Action Planning and participated in a landmark workshop hosted by the University of Liverpool’s School of Law and Social Justice. Led by Professor Azadi Chalabi, the event marked the inaugural meeting of a global network focused on sharing experiences and addressing challenges related to national human rights action plans. The workshop brought together representatives from 36 countries, both in-person and virtually, making it a truly international experience. 

  Scotland had a strong presence at the workshop, with SNAP represented by co-chairs Nick Bland and Charlie McMillan, alongside a delegation that included academics, the Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC), and Lucy Mulvey of the ALLIANCE. The discussions highlighted common challenges faced by many countries in streamlining their plans and ensuring accountability. Innovative approaches were also showcased, including a “progress tree,” which uses leaf colours to visually track the delivery of action plan goals. For SNAP2, the workshop underscored the importance of learning from global peers, sharing good practices, challenges and possible response strategies.