Greenlands first Council on Human Rights

Human Rights Council of Greenlandheld its constituent meeting on March 4, 2013 in Nuuk.

Human Rights Council of Greenland is comprised of various civil society organizations, institutions and authorities, and each of them appointed one member to the Council.

The Council primarily has an advisory function and should not be confused as being a complaints board such as the Ombudsman for the Greenlandic parliament.

At the constituent meeting, the Council adopted its rules of procedure and appointed a chairman and vice-chairman for a two-year period. The vice-president for ICC-Greenland, Hjalmar Dahl, was elected chairman, and Aaja Chemnitz Larsen, the Children´s Spokesperson for Children´s Rights Institution (MIO), was elected vice-chairman.

- I am honored that the Council unanimously elected me chairman, and I am looking forward to include the general public in the process. It is worth noticing, that the council is comprised of a broad representation of various organizations, said Hjalmar Dahl after the constituent meeting.

The director for the Institute for Danish Human Rights (DIHR), Jonas Christoffersen, attended the meeting and presented the Institute and its work on human rights in Denmark; including plans and possibilities of working on human rights in Greenland in cooperation with the newly established Human Rights Council of Greenland.

At the organizing meeting, the Council opted to prioritize the compiling of an informational publication for the public.

At the same time the members of the Council each took up the task to analyze the challenges on human rights from the perspective of each different member organization. Analyzing the challenges will form the basis for a complete prioritization of future tasks.

The Council decided to start the next meeting with a one day workshop on human rights, seen from a Greenlandic context. The Danish Institute for Human Rightsagreed to be in charge of the workshop.