Statement by Mary Robinson UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Third Committee of the 52nd session of the United Nations General Assembly

New York, 14 November 1997


Item 114 (e): Report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights



Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is an honour for me to have this first opportunity to address the Third Committee of the General Assembly as High Commissioner for Human Rights. Promoting universal enjoyment of all human rights is the main objective of our work. Democracy, development and respect for human rights are all interdependent and reinforce each other. They play a crucial role in the realization of the main purposes of the UN Charter: peace, security and economic and social development.

As High Commissioner for Human Rights, it is my duty to ensure leadership on human rights issues and to emphasize the importance of human rights on the international and national agendas, fully in keeping with the mandate I received from the General Assembly and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (VDPA). I also intend to be a strong moral voice for the defence of the victims of oppression, discrimination, and exclusion - wherever they may be or whatever the violation - and, in so doing, also respond to my obligation of anticipating potential serious violations of human rights or reacting to such violations.

I will take a practical approach to the work of the UN in human rights making every effort to ensure that UN action is meaningful and useful to people globally. Today, we have several international conventions and other legally binding human rights instruments. The priority for my Office is clearly to see those international norms translated in terms of national laws and national practices. While human rights are universal, their application varies considerably from country to country: this is where I see an important role for my Office in reducing or closing the gap that exists, and whenever possible, in aiming at even higher forms of compliance with standards freely adhered to.

The Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, has stressed that human rights are one aspect of the work of the UN which directly affects all the others. For this reason, human rights are being integrated in the UN other approaches and action at Headquarters and in the field. I am pleased by the steps the Secretary-General has already taken to achieve that end. Human rights concerns are now no longer considered separately in the Secretariat: they begin to be linked to the work of the four main Executive Committees - on peace and security; humanitarian affairs; economic and social affairs; and development - to which I participate, and of the Senior Management Group, chaired by the Secretary-General and made up of senior officials from the Secretariat as well as from UN Funds and Programmes. Adequate inter-agency cooperation and coordination are essential in order to ensure a fully integrated approach to human rights throughout the UN system. I believe that a great deal of work can be done to advance human rights promotion and protection within the UN family. As High Commissioner for Human Rights, I will do my best to facilitate the harmonization of such policies within the UN system. I will also encourage a closer link between the recommendations of UN human rights experts (of the treaty bodies and the mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights) and the work of agencies and programmes of the UN system, including the World Bank and the IMF, in order to give the promotion and protection of all human rights even more practical applications in our daily work.

As UNICEF is our main partner for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, so too other agencies and programmes should take a leading role in order to realize in practice internationally protected rights. The 50th anniversary and the five-year review of the VDPA constitute an important step on the road to achieving that objective and, as I will emphasize later, I look very much forward to our continued dialogue with our partners in the ACC as well as to the debate on this subject in the coordination segment of the 1998 session of ECOSOC.

The progress made by the UN since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in 1948, has been substantive. This is particularly true since Vienna, when member states gave a new sense of direction to the whole human rights programme. However, given the sheer scale of the problems, including serious violations of human rights and the significant proportion of the world’s population who live in absolute poverty, fresh approaches will be needed in renewing our commitment to its fundamental principles next year. Our own work of human rights promotion and protection has taken us increasingly away from Geneva and to the field: in Abkhazia/Georgia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Burundi, Cambodia, Colombia, Croatia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Gaza, Malawi, Mongolia, Rwanda, to mention a few instances. We now have more staff working on human rights issues in the field than at Headquarters. This is essential in order for us to be able to meet the increasing requests for support by Governments in connection with their human right efforts at home.

I will encourage the trend toward greater cooperation in human rights matters: cooperation in the solution of common global problems is a crucial aspect of our work. In the past, we have often seen too much politicization and procedural - not substantive - debate on complex human rights questions, affecting the lives and well-being of individuals and groups. We have also seen a divide emerging between groups and states: I will do my best to ensure that my Office is perceived as representing the human rights aspirations and interests of all countries and acts as a facilitator of the human rights dialogue so needed to achieve concrete results.

A formidable challenge in the next few years - stressed also at the UN Conferences in Vienna and in Beijing - is the practical recognition that women’s rights are human rights and the integration of their protection into the whole UN human rights programme. I will make this a priority of my work as I believe that even small progress on this front can positively affect the solution of some of the most daunting economic and social problems of our time.

Mr. Chairman,

On this occasion, I also wish to pay tribute to the dedicated work and efforts of the first High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. José Ayala-Lasso, whom I met here in New York at the end of September. When he was appointed in 1994, the then Centre for Human Rights was not yet ready to take on the challenges of human rights field work, which the former High Commissioner had rightly emphasized, and its implications in terms of fund-raising, backstopping and timely reporting to member states. The Centre had also little capacity to effectively communicate to member states and other partners its work.

Since then, some progress has been made. The Secretary-General has now reflected in a new Organizational Manual these reforms and has established as of September 1997 an Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights which harmoniously unifies the earlier components under the leadership of the High Commissioner. This structure emphasizes for the first time the importance of the right to development and economic, social and cultural rights.

Three main organizational units work under the head of office, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, who is assisted by a Deputy at the ASG level. A staff office and an administrative section together with the New York Office are part of the immediate office of the High Commissioner. In the ongoing process of filling up key senior positions as well as the post of Deputy, I am certainly very aware of the importance of having good geographical balance, a sense of bringing together North and South in a joint commitment to human rights, and that will be central to assessing who will be the appropriate person for those positions. It should be emphasized that the new structure reflects the priorities and mandates of the UN human rights programme as approved by the competent legislative organs. It will allow the very limited financial and human resources available from the regular budget to be put to best use to meet current responsibilities within the framework of the strategic objectives identified in the Medium Term Plan (1998-2001). I should add that I have now started to apply the same concept of reform to the whole machinery of the UN in the field of human rights so as to attempt to rationalize, adapt, strengthen and streamline it. The contribution of my Office will be in terms of analysis and possible practical options to make that machinery more in line with today’s and tomorrow’s needs. It must be emphasized however that decisions in this area are the prerogatives of States. The action of my Office is aimed at raising the visibility of human rights issues globally and at mobilizing the commitment of Governments, international organizations, non-governmental organizations and public opinion to work more closely together for the realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms. I hope that the experience of human rights work being carried out by my Office in Rwanda, Cambodia, Colombia or elsewhere, will enable us all to review these operations, their current structures and priorities with a view to establish a more integrated and effective approach to field work. There is a need to learn from past experiences and be prepared for possible future emergencies. To that end, it is also essential to ensure the availability of rosters of qualified human rights staff that would be available for field work whenever necessary as well as effective backstopping of field operations. I am reviewing with senior staff in my Office these aspects, as I intend to set up a modus operandi in this area which will be much more transparent, responsive and available to all our partners. I also intend to cooperate closely with regional organizations such as the OAU Commission on Human and People's Rights, the OAS and the Inter-American Commission, the Council of Europe, in connection with the implementation of technical cooperation projects within specific regions. I will also work to further strengthen our ongoing partnership with NGOs in the implementation of specific projects of education, training and other technical cooperation programmes.


I would like to draw particular attention to the importance of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights. Once international standards have been set, once the international mechanisms of protection are functioning, it is the primary responsibility of Governments to ensure human rights. However, Governments can be greatly assisted by national commissions that promote human rights standards and ensure the harmonization of national legislation with international human rights standards.

In the past few years, my Office has assisted countries in all regions to create or strengthen such national institutions. This is a positive endeavour with enduring and tangible results for the countries and people concerned. I would therefore like to note the initiative of the Mexican Commission on Human Rights to organize a fourth international workshop of national human rights institutions in Mexico, later this month. I intend to make this work one of my highest priorities and use the opportunity of the 50th anniversary next year to pursue further progress in this area.

While human rights violations continue to affect individuals and groups everywhere, for those who are summarily executed, arbitrarily detained, tortured, disappear against their will or are discriminated against simply because of their sex, colour, ethnic origin or religion, or are excluded from the benefits of society and left in conditions of extreme poverty, every single violation is one too many. As impunity is still rampant in so many parts of the world, these violations bring a further offense to human dignity. We must act now in order to avoid that impunity is allowed to prevail and that we always consider the need for justice on the part of the victims.

Ad Hoc international tribunals recently established must be welcome yet an international criminal court is the next step that the international community need to take. I therefore look forward with great interest to efforts in this sense and to the results of the international conference aimed at adopting the statute of a permanent international penal court to be held in Italy next June. In 1998, we are fortunate to have two important human rights events through which we can come together to make substantive contributions to the promotion and protection of all human rights. The 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Five-Year Implementation Review of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action provide us with the ideal vehicles for considering the past and reinvigorating our commitment to the future.

We must view this time as the ideal moment to consider the issue of human rights, in our daily lives, asking ourselves what can be done concretely to further them. Human rights are an ever-present, ongoing challenge which must be met again and again. No one can be absolutely sure of their protection from one generation to the next. The 50th Anniversary can help to remind us that the inspiration of fifty years ago which produced the Universal Declaration must continue into a new century.

The World Conference on Human Rights recognized the importance of the coming year and ensured a substantive contribution to the 50th Anniversary by requesting the Five-Year Implementation Review of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action in 1998. This review provides a benchmark for assessing the extent to which the goal of universal ratification of treaties as well as other commitments are being implemented. The review will allow us to form a clear picture of where we stand in the promotion and protection of human rights worldwide, to take stock of what has been done, and will serve as the blueprint of what is yet to be done.

At a meeting of the ACC last month, I stressed that while I realized that not all UN agencies and programmes spoke the technical language of human rights, they all did work on human rights. 1998 would therefore be the best chance to show the world that the United Nations, in many ways and under many names, is undertaking the difficult work to strengthen human rights and reach people in practical ways daily so as to better their own lives. For me that is what we must accomplish in 1998. We must work to strengthen human rights where they must be strongest - in the communities where people live.

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Tomorrow will be exactly two months since I have taken on the daunting challenges of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. As I reflect on the future of my action my thoughts go to the consensus reached in Vienna five years ago which binds us all together. During my term, I will therefore ensure that other substantive aspects of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action are effectively implemented as reflected in our Medium Term Plan for the period 1998-2001. In our work over the coming years, we will reaffirm the importance of economic, social and cultural rights and the right to development and will recognize that progress toward the integration of economic, social and cultural rights, is indivisible and interlinked with civil and political rights.

Action to secure the effective protection of the rights of children, including those in especially difficult circumstances including child labour, sales of children and the girl child will be given high priority. We will also recognize the human rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and call for the full participation of minorities in efforts to promote and protect their rights as well as the rights of disabled people and the needs of vulnerable groups, such as migrant workers. We will stress the inherent dignity and unique contribution of indigenous populations and support the commitment of the international community to ensuring respect for their rights.

We will reinforce policies and programmes to eliminate racism and racial discrimination, also through the activities of the Third Decade and underline the role of human rights education as a crucial element in building future respect for human rights, as a vaccine against resurgent forms of intolerance and xenophobia. It is my hope that human rights education starting in primary schools becomes a small but concrete and long-lasting contribution of the 50th anniversary year to our children, and our future generations, as we approach a new millennium. More than ever before, in order to meet the challenges to peace and sustainable development we need to address the crucial question of respect for human rights which lies at the root of some of today's most crucial problems. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has been created in order to deal with all the complex issues related to human rights. I intend to work hard to ensure that from North to South and from East to West a consensus emerges on the importance of ensuring the realization of human rights because it is only working together - and with a shared sense of purpose - that we can make concrete progress.

I will always be open to constructive dialogue on human rights. You may count on me to facilitate action on the part of the UN in the realization of human rights objectives to which you attach special importance, nationally or internationally. As High Commissioner for Human Rights, I will carry out the responsibility you have entrusted to me for the promotion and protection of all human rights. In my high-level dialogue with Governments, I will address the whole range of human rights issues and I will try to build bridges between and among all regions of the world, thus reinforcing trust and confidence in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights as a global institution committed to the promotion and protection of human rights in all countries of the world -- and this in a fair, impartial and objective way.

In the implementation of my functions as High Commissioner, I would like to reiterate that I do intend to give equal emphasis to economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, and to civil and political rights. This is not only consistent with my GA mandate but also with the VDPA and the Social Summit in Copenhagen. In this connection, I believe that it would be farsighted for the international community to also seriously consider offering the same level of protection to individuals in economic, social and cultural rights as that afforded in the political and civil sectors. This may prepare us to better manage the challenges that we will face in the economic and social field in the next century.

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Our work in human rights, in keeping with the Charter, must not only advance the enjoyment of all human rights by all but also be an effective contribution to the preservation of peace, to economic and social development, to the avoidance of humanitarian tragedies and sufferings and for the benefit of individuals and nations alike. I count on your strong support and commitment to human rights to succeed in this common and arduous endeavour.

Thank you.