The Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) is an independent, national human rights institution modelled in accordance with the UN Paris Principles. The Institute, which was established by statute in 2002, carries on the mandate vested in the Danish Centre for Human Rights in 1987. This encompasses research, education and the implementation of national and international programmes. The Institute is part of the Danish Centre for International Studies and Human Rights (DCISM), which also includes a sister institute, the Danish Institute of International Studies (DIIS).
The chief objective of the DIHR is to promote and develop knowledge about human rights on a national, regional and international basis predicated on the belief that human rights are universal, mutually interdependent and interrelated. The Institute believes that societies must be based on the rule of law, where the state protects and confers obligations on the individual while safeguarding the most disadvantaged and marginalized groups in society.