DEPUTY HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS TO VISIT GUATEMALA

2 September 2008

The UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Kyung-wha Kang, will visit Guatemala from 2 to 4 September 2008. Her visit takes place on the occasion of the extension of the agreement for the establishment of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the country.

The Deputy High Commissioner will meet with President Álvaro Colom, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Human Rights Ombudsman, and with representatives of national institutions, civil society, international community and the United Nations System.

The renewal of the agreement will be publicly announced in a ceremony with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on 4 September.

On January 2005, the Government of Guatemala and OHCHR signed an agreement for the establishment of an Office in Guatemala. As prescribed by its mandate, the Office has the following functions:

· Monitor and report on the human rights situation with the aim of advising the Guatemalan authorities on the formulation and implementation of policies, programmes and measures for the promotion and protection of human rights.

· Provide advisory services in the areas of its competence to representatives of civil society, human rights organizations and individuals.

· Promote the observance of human rights and the implementation of the recommendations issued by treaty bodies and international human rights mechanisms.

· Report on the situation of human rights and the Office's activities, by means of the annual report of the High Commissioner and through public pronouncements.


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For use of information media; not an official record