Capacity Strengthening of the Commission and Institute of Human Rights in the Americas

Results achieved as of September 2012 include: (a) A reduction in time for the initial review of a human rights case from 50 months at the beginning of the project to 27 months with approximately 3500 cases reviewed since the beginning of the project; (b) 160 employees of national governments trained in the theory and practices of the inter-American human rights system with a further 266 representatives of governments and civil society trained in specialized human rights areas such as “Access to Justice” and “Justice and Security”; and (c) the establishment of an Outreach Unit in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights which has been successful in improving the profile of the Commission through increased and improved quality press coverage of human rights issues. These results have contributed to a reduction of case backlog and improved case treatment and processing systems increased awareness and understanding of the Inter-American system and its legal recommendations relative to specific cases and improved knowledge of the Inter-American system through the provision of specialized training by the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights.