The nature and scope of states’ obligation to adopt a national human rights action plan

The main purpose of this inquiry is to unravel whether states are obliged, under international human rights law, to adopt a National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRAP), and if so, what is the nature and the scope of this obligation. To this end, a textual analysis of nine core human rights conventions is conducted. The results of this analysis show that each of these conventions places upon states parties an immediate obligation to adopt a NHRAP which must be geared towards realising the rights embodied in the conventions. If states parties fail to adopt a NHRAP or if their plan is not in line with realising human rights, in either case, they may be deemed to be in violation of the conventions. By contrast, the fulfillment of this obligation could set a society on the road towards development.