Elected at the Constituting Assembly on 23 May 2023, the six Committee members have since then focused on laying the bases of the Institution. In the summer of 2023, they were joined in doing so by two collaborators, followed by a Director in February 2024 and a Communications Manager in May 2024. 

Both Committee members and the Director have already established many contacts with Swiss civil society actors, Confederation and cantonal administrative services, international organisations representatives, as well as with other national human rights institutions.

In order to prepare what will be its core mission, the SHRI has given two substantial mandates in its first year of existence, which will help determine its future orientation. On the one hand, a study on the current state of human rights in Switzerland; on the other hand, an information portal on that same topic.

Supported by an external consultant, the SHRI Committee and the Director have worked – and are still working – on building a strategy. It will allow the Institution, in the second half of 2024, to define its first thematic axes, to recruit a team of human rights specialists in line with its priorities, and to streamline the first phase of the Institution’s establishment (which will end in 2026).

Looking ahead, the SHRI will continue to dedicate substantial energy into structuring itself during its second year of existence. The staff will continue to grow in the second half of 2024. The strategic process related to the first part of the Institution’s establishment will come to an end. And the SHRI will be able to start its first activities pertaining to its mission.

Read the activity report in German, French or Italian.