The Fourth ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) meeting was held from 10 – 13 February 2011 in Solo, Indonesia. This Meeting was the first meeting of AICHR in 2011 Chaired by the Indonesian Representative, Chair of AICHR.

The Meeting had a rich agenda. Notably, it discussed and adopted The Guidelines of Operations of AICHR. It also discussed the draft Term of Reference of AICHR Drafting Group for ASEAN Human Rights Declaration. In addition, the Meeting considered the draft Terms of Reference of the thematic studies on CSR and Human Rights and Migration, and the invitations from some ASEAN Dialogue Partners and ASEAN Sectoral Bodies. It also took cognizance of the proposed AICHR Workshop on Statelessness and the Rights of Women and Children, and a concept paper on the best practices to promote and protect maternal health in ASEAN Member States.

At the invitation of AICHR, H.E. Ngurah Swajaya, the Chairperson of the ASEAN Committee of Permanent Representative (CPR) attended the meeting and had a substantive dialogue with AICHR under the agenda of Engagement with ASEAN Organs and Sectoral bodies and other entities associated with ASEAN. It was agreed that AICHR and CPR will enhance their cooperation especially in facilitating human rights cooperation with ASEAN Dialogue Partners.

The Meeting welcomed the presence of H.E. Bagas Hapsoro, the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for Community and Corporate Affairs. Ambassador Hapsoro leads the ASEAN Secretariat team in providing support service to the work of AICHR.

The Meeting agreed that the year of 2011 will be the year of implementation of the work of AICHR to further promote and protect human rights in ASEAN, thus contributing to making ASEAN more people-centered.

The Meeting expressed satisfaction with the visit by AICHR to the United States on 14-21 November 2010 which enabled it to interact with the US State Department, Officials of the US Congress, various UN agencies, the Inter-American Human Rights Commission and other stakeholders. The Meeting also took note of the cooperation AICHR had in arranging a workshop held jointly by the OHCHR Regional Office for South-East Asia, UNDP Asia-Pacific Regional Centre and the ASEAN Secretariat which took place at the ASEAN Secretariat on 30 November – 1 December 2010. Lastly, AICHR was informed and took note of the successful visit of the officials of the Representatives to Strasbourg and Berlin on 22-26 November 2010. This trip was organized by the Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.

The Meeting also considered the possible study visit to Europe on human rights matters at the invitation of the European Commission.

The Fifth ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights meeting is scheduled to be held at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta between 25-29 April 2011.