Government officials from 13 Pacific countries will attend two day Human Rights Workshop at the Macombo Hotel, Nadi opening today.

The workshop, which will will look at how Pacific Island countries can strengthen their human rights mechanisms will also be attended by representatives from regional Non-Government Organisations who have been invited as Observers.

"Pacific Islands Forum Leaders made a call last year to develop human rights mechanisms at the national level," said Forum Secretary General, Greg Urwin. "This workshop will help us to see how the human rights agenda is changing in response to political, economic and social developments."

Currently only Fiji, New Zealand and Australia have Human Rights Commissions. Solomon Islands is in the process of establishing a Commission, and other countries in the Pacific, in particular Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu, have expressed an interest in establishing a mechanism for protecting and promoting human rights.

A keynote address by Emiritus Professor Don Paterson from the University of the South Pacific will compare human rights provisions in the Constitutions and legal systems of Pacific Island states.

The Chairperson of the Fiji Human Rights Commission, Mr Walter Rigamoto, will also present a paper on the powers, duties and functions of his office.

The consultation in Nadi is organised jointly by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF). Representatives from five UN agencies will be part of a panel to discuss international agency support for human rights mechanisms in the Pacific.