Africa Region

OHCHR presence in the region

OHCHR Central Africa Regional Centre

The United Nations Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa), also referred to as the OHCHR Regional Office for Central Africa (CARO) - based in Yaoundé, Cameroun - was created at the request of member states of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and pursuant to General Assembly resolutions 53/78 A and 54/55 A.

CARO supports the promotion and protection of human rights and democracy through monitoring the human rights situation, informing on the trends, promoting prevention, capacity building, advocacy and advisory services to national authorities, national human rights institutions, civil society and international organizations. It covers 10 countries of the Economic Community of Central Africa States (ECCAS), notably Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Gabon, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Sao Tomé and Principe. It participates actively in meetings of the UN Standing Advisory Committee on Peace and Security in Central Africa. More about OHCHR in Central Africa.

OHCHR East Africa Regional Office

The OHCHR East Africa Regional Office (EARO) supports the African Union in strengthening its institutional capacity to deliver on the human rights dimension of its work. The Regional Office also monitors human rights developments in Djibouti, Ethiopia and Tanzania and supports governments, civil society, UN Country Teams and other stakeholders to strengthen human rights protection systems and mainstream human rights in programmes. In support to countries in the sub-region, the Regional Office provides advice on women's rights and gender equality and on human rights treaty body commitments. More about OHCHR in East Africa.

OHCHR Southern Africa Regional Office

The Regional Office for Southern Africa (ROSA) provides technical assistance on the promotion and protection of human rights to 14 countries in Southern Africa. The office covers Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. OHCHR has staff working at the national level in Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe and staff in the regional office cover South Africa and the region from Pretoria, with a focus on protecting civic space, early warning and prevention, tackling gender-based violence and discrimination, integrating human rights in development, strengthening national protection systems and human rights reporting and follow up to recommendations. More about OHCHR in Southern Africa.

OHCHR West Africa Regional Office

The West Africa Regional Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights based in Dakar, Senegal (OHCHR-WARO) is the main UN institution in charge of the protection and promotion of human rights in West Africa, with particular focus on Senegal and other West African countries where OHCHR has no presence, such as Benin, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana and Togo. More about OHCHR in West Africa.

Country Offices

• Chad
• Guinea
• Liberia
• Mauritania
• Niger
• The Sudan
• Uganda

Human Rights Components in UN Peace Missions:

• Central African Republic (MINUSCA)
• Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO)
• Mali (MINUSMA)
• Somalia (UNSOM)
• South Sudan (UNMISS)
• Sudan (UNITAMS)

Human Rights Advisers

• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Equatorial Guinea
• Eswatini
• Gambia
• Guinea Bissau
• Kenya
• Lesotho
• Niger
• Nigeria
• Madagascar
• Malawi
• Mozambique
• Rwanda
• Sierra Leone
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

Other type of field presence

• G5 Sahel Project team (established in 2018)
• Mozambique