A/RES/54/176 Page 2 in remedying human rights violations, in disseminating information on human rights and in education in human rights, Recalling also the Platform for Action adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women,2 in which Governments were urged to create or strengthen independent national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights, including the human rights of women, Noting the diverse approaches adopted throughout the world for the protection and promotion of human rights at the national level, emphasizing the universality, indivisibility and interdependence of all human rights, and emphasizing and recognizing the value of such approaches in promoting universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms, Noting with satisfaction the constructive participation of representatives of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights in, and their positive contribution to, the deliberations of the World Conference on Human Rights and the Commission on Human Rights, as well as international seminars and workshops on human rights organized or sponsored by the United Nations, Welcoming the strengthening of regional cooperation among national human rights institutions, including through the third annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions, held at Jakarta in September 1998, the second Regional Conference of African National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, held at Durban, South Africa, in June and July 1998, the first meeting of Mediterranean National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, held at Marrakesh, Morocco, in April 1998, the fourth annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions, held at Manila in September 1999, and the second session of the Coordinating Committee of African National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, held at Algiers in October 1999, 1. Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General;3 2. Reaffirms the importance of the development of effective, independent and pluralistic national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights, in keeping with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights contained in the annex to General Assembly resolution 48/134 of 20 December 1993; 3. Recognizes that, in accordance with the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action,1 it is the right of each State to choose the framework for the national institutions that is best suited to its particular needs at the national level in order to promote human rights in accordance with international human rights standards; 4. Encourages Member States to establish or, where they already exist, to strengthen national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights, as outlined in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action; 2 Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4-15 September 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap. I, resolution 1, annex II. 3 A/54/336. /...