The Director of Human Rights Centre Sirpa Rautio elected as Chair of European Network of National Human Rights Institution (ENNHRI)

The Director of Human Rights Centre Sirpa Rautio was elected as a Board Member and Chair to the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) by ENNHRI´s General Assembly on the 3rd of December 2021. Other elected ENNHRI Board Members represent the National Human Rights Institutions of Albania, Bulgaria, Norway, Poland, and Germany. The newly elected members will start their three-year term on the 1st of March 2022. The ENNHRI Chair oversees the strategic direction and management of ENNHRI and is the primary representative of ENNHRI.

The representatives of Albanian, Bulgarian, Norwegian and Finnish National Human Rights Institutions were also elected as Global Network of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) Bureau Members. ENNHRI has a permanent Secretariat in Brussels and GANHRI in Geneva.

Sirpa Rautio has served as the Director of Human Rights Centre from 2012. Rautio has previously served in the ENNHRI Board for one term (2016 – 2019). Rautio has also served as a member of the Management Board of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) in 2015 – 2017 and as its Chair in 2017 – 2020.

The Human Rights Centre, its Human Rights Delegation and the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman together form the Finnish National Human Rights Institution (NHRI). The Finnish NHRI was granted the highest status (A-status) in 2014 and again in 2019. The Human Rights Centre’s task is to promote and monitor the implementation of fundamental and human rights in Finland, as well as participating if international and European cooperation.

ENNHRI consists of 47 National Human Rights Institutions from all over Europe. GANHRI consists of 118 members globally.