مقدمة للتقارير المواضيعية للأمين العام والمفوضة السامية بموجب البندين 2 و3

16 June 2014

Mr. President,
Members of the Human Rights Council,
Excellences,
Ladies and gentlemen,

I am pleased to introduce to the present session of the Council several reports prepared by the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner which fall under agenda items 2 and 3, 6 and 10.

Let me begin with the requested oral update on concise technical guidance on the application of a human rights approach to the implementation of policies and programmes to reduce and eliminate preventable mortality and morbidity of children under 5 years of age.

This responds to resolution 24/11 which requested OHCHR, in close collaboration with the World Health Organization, to prepare the concise technical guidance and to convene, in cooperation with the United Nations agencies, in particular with the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Join United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, an expert workshop to assist in the preparation of the technical guidance.

I am glad to inform the Council that a public consultation with States was held on 2 April 2014 in Geneva, and an expert meeting to discuss the draft of the Technical Guidance followed on 3-4 April. We benefitted greatly from the excellent input that has been received from you in this process, and which is available on the OHCHR webpage. In addition, the preparation of the guidance, which has been undertaken in close collaboration with WHO, has been supported by an external advisory group of human rights and child health experts. The Technical Guidance is nearing completion and will be presented to the Human Rights Council at its 27th session in September. OHCHR hopes that the Technical Guidance will assist States and non-state actors to improve the realisation of the rights of the child by providing guidance on addressing mortality and morbidity of children in accordance with human rights standards.

Many challenges remain, however. In spite of significant progress made in recent years, under-five mortality and morbidity still remain unacceptably high. Annually, an estimated 6.6 million children die before their fifth birthday. But more than half of these deaths are preventable! Patterns of child mortality and morbidity reveal significant and persisting inequalities between and within countries, driven by poverty, social exclusions, discrimination and neglect of basic human rights. The consultations highlighted that a human rights-based approach to reducing child mortality and morbidity can help draw attention to potential barriers to successfully addressing these issues; highlight the range of actors responsible for this work; and provide a legal framework to strengthen public health efforts in this area. It can also facilitate the identification of populations at high risk; enable analysis of gaps in protection, participation and accountability; and promote the identifications of solutions.

Moving now to the reports before you. The first one is the report on challenges, strategies and developments with regard to the implementation of the resolution 21/5 (on the Guiding Principles on business and human rights) by the United Nations system, including programmes, funds and agencies (A/HRC/26/20). This report follows up on a previous report on the same topic, and outlines key developments and activities carried out by different parts of the UN system. The report finds that there has been some relevant uptake of the UN Guiding Principles, but that much work remains to embed the Guiding Principles into the Organisation, particularly in the work of strategy planning and coordination bodies.

Resolution 21/5 also requested the Secretary-General to undertake a study on the feasibility of establishing a global fund for capacity building on the issue of business and human rights. A/HRC/26/20/Add.1 contains an initial analysis of various models for such a global fund and reports on submissions on the topic received in consultations with relevant stakeholders. The study recommends that further consultation and analysis is necessary before recommendations can be made on different options for a global fund.

The next report before you summarizes the discussions and findings of the seminar on the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress (A/HRC/26/19), which took place in 2013. The experts participating in the seminar focused their discussions on the normative content of the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications; scientific freedom; interdependence among rights; intellectual property rights; access to information, technology and knowledge; and the right to participate in the scientific enterprise.

The summary report notes that, despite its importance for the enjoyment of other human rights, the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress is a largely neglected right. During the seminar, experts expressed particular interest in the relationship between the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and intellectual property rights, with much of the discussion focusing on the compatibility of the international intellectual property system with human rights norms and standards. Barriers to access to information, technology and knowledge were also reviewed, with experts identifying poverty and discrimination as two impediments to access.

You also have before you the summary report of the OHCHR on the consultations on the draft basic principles on the right to effective remedy for trafficked persons (A/HRC/26/18). These consultations gathered States, intergovernmental bodies and civil society organizations to discuss the draft basic principles across five regions between March 2013 and January 2014. OHCHR and the Special Rapporteur also organized two global consultations – in New York and in Vienna, in October and November 2013.

All consultations concluded that the right to an effective remedy for victims of human rights violations is already recognized under several major international human rights instruments including the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. The report before you also documents the different regional frameworks and policy initiatives that reaffirm this right.

In all consultations, there was general agreement that effective remedies remain largely inaccessible, despite the existence of international and regional frameworks. The main obstacles identified included poor implementation and interpretation of existing national legal frameworks, limited resources, capacities and infrastructure dedicated to the issue, and also gaps in victims’ identification and the tendency to criminalize victims, coupled with restrictive immigration policies.

The draft basic principles were revised on the basis of existing international human rights standards, as well as oral and written submissions received during the consultative process from a large range of stakeholders. OHCHR welcomes the basic principles and encourages the Human Rights Council to consider endorsing them.

Moving now to item 6 and the annual update report on the Operations of the Voluntary Fund for UPR Implementation (A/HRC/26/54). It highlights the range of technical assistance provided to States at their request and/or consent through the Trust Fund, covering a range of thematic issues, from combatting discrimination, to birth registration; to supporting the establishment of Paris Principles compliant national human rights institutions, to building the capacity of Government inter-institutional bodies tasked with follow-up and the drawing up of an effective implementation action plan. You will also note that OHCHR seeks to better document good practices, to be shared among States as appropriate.
Finally, let me briefly draw your attention to three additional reports. One is the Report of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women on the activities of the United Nations Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women (A/HRC/26/17).

Two other reports will be discussed later during this session, namely the report on activities undertaken to support efforts by States to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities in their national legislation, policies and programmes (A/HRC/26/24), which will be discussed at the panel discussion on 25 June, as well as the report on preventing and eliminating child, early and forced marriage (A/HRC/26/22) which will serve as a basis for your panel discussion on 23 June.

The first report focuses on the activities undertaken by the UN and regional organizations to support efforts by States to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities in their national legislation, policies and programmes, including to mainstream disability in development efforts, and suggests a way forward. The second report discusses the international norms and standards applicable to child, early and forced marriage, the human rights impact of the practice on women and girls and strategies to prevent and eliminate child, early and forced marriage.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This concludes my introduction of thematic reports under items 2, 3, 6 and 10.

Thank you for your attention.