b) Sub-regional initiatives
Various sub-regional initiatives to promote and protect human rights have burgeoned; they correspond encouragingly, at least in principle, to part of the original rationale for "regional arrangements" in the sense of reviewing the human rights situation and/or providing access to redress where the national setting is unable to deliver justice. However, the geographic scope is smaller in scale and less ambitious than the aspiration to encompass the totality of the Asia-Pacific region.

There are at least four sub-regions of note which have various inter-gov­ernmental organizations which could be instrumental in promoting and protecting human rights : West Asia, particularly its link with the League of Arab States ("Arab League"), South Asia, particularly its link with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), South-east Asia , particularly its link with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the Pacific region, particu­larly its link with the Pacific Islands Forum. The organizations mentioned were not set up specifically to deal with human rights, and at times they may even be reticent about human rights. However, they may be entry points for the promotion and protection of human rights, if the political will permits.

In 1994 the Arab Charter on Human Rights was finalized by the Arab League. This was the first inter-governmental treaty in West Asia laying down human rights standards and a monitoring mechanism in the form of an Arab Human Rights Committee . However, the treaty never attained the necessary ratifications to enter into force and it was criticized by commentators as falling below international stan­dards. More recently, in 2004 the treaty was revised and the OHCHR provided support for its improvement. The new treaty has improved on many fronts, despite some grey areas. It is more consistent with international human rights standards, e.g. while the old treaty was vague on constraints on human rights, the new treaty offers clearer parameters concerning limits permissible in times of public emergen­cies. The machinery under the treaty is an Arab Human Rights Committee with a monitoring role based on the obligation of member States to provide periodic reports and the Committees power to make recommendations of a persuasive nature. Now adopted by the Arab League, this revised treaty awaits the needed number of ratifications for its enforcement. The current text offers a monitoring process without enabling individuals to complain to the Committee to seek redress. However, the Charter provides for the possibility of Protocols to add elements to the Charter. This could provide space for future channels for individuals to seek redress where the national level does not have the capacity to deliver justice.

It would be logical for the OHCHR to sustain its interaction with this treaty system and the Arab League to support effective implementation of the treaty, especially as this system comes nearest to the intention of having a regional machinery for the promotion and protection of human rights, albeit at a geographi­cally reduced level - sub-regional, rather than regional.

Arab countries have also indicated their interest in seeing the establishment of a UN Regional Centre for Human Rights for South-west Asia and the Arab region to promote human rights at that level. Qatar is interested to host this. This needs to be well-coordinated with the presence of the OHCHR in the Arab region, now through an office based in Beirut as seen below, to ensure effective cooperation and avoid duplication. Of note also is that in June 2005, Gulf countries are planning to host a workshop on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in coordination with the OHCHR.

SAARC has adopted a more focused approach of concretizing treaties linked to specific human rights issues rather than general human rights treaties. In 2002it adopted two treaties with impact on human rights: the SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution and SAARC Convention on Regional Arrangements for the Promotion of Child Welfare in South Asia. The former Convention calls for laws to criminalize the phenomenon and for cross border cooperation to tackle the issue. It also calls for care, treatment, rehabilitation and repatriation of the victims, with the possibility of bilateral ar­rangements. The latter Convention provides for "regional arrangements" as follows:

"Article V. Regional Arrangements

To ensure consistent focus on and pursuance of the regional priorities delin­eated above, States Parties shall promote solidarity, cooperation and collective action between and among SAARC Member States in the arena of child rights and development. States Parties view such cooperation as mutually reinforcing and capable of enhancing the quality and impact of their national efforts to create the enabling conditions and environment for full realization of child rights and attain­ment of the highest possible standard of child well being. In pursuance hereof, States Parties shall:

a) provide opportunities for appropriate bilateral and multilateral sharing of information, experience and expertise.
b) Facilitate human resource development through planned annual schedule of SAARC Advanced Training Programme on Child Rights and Development.
c) Make special arrangements for speedy completion and disposal, on priority basis, of any judicial or administrative inquiry or proceeding involving a child who is a national of another SAARC Member State, and for the transfer of children who are nationals of SAARC countries, accused of infringing the penal code, back to their country of legal residence for trial and treatment, provided that the alleged offence has not imperiled the national security of the country where it has been allegedly committed.
d) Strengthen the relevant SAARC Bodies dealing with issues of child welfare to formulate and implement regional strategies and measures for prevention of inter-country abuse and exploitation of the child, including the trafficking of children for sexual, economic and other purposes.
e) Set up a South Asian nutrition initiative aimed at enhancing knowl­edge and promoting greater awareness, practice and attainment of higher levels of nutrition, particularly for children and women, through mass education, adequate training and ensuring food security and equitable distribution of food at the family level."