EXPERT ON EFFECTS OF ECONOMIC REFORM POLICIES AND FOREIGN DEBT ON FULL ENJOYMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS VISITS MOZAMBIQUE

25 July 2005



Bernards A.N. Mudho, Independent Expert of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on the effects of economic reform policies and foreign debt on the full enjoyment of all human rights, will visit Mozambique at the invitation of the Government from 25 to 29 July 2005.

The Independent Expert’s purpose in carrying out the visit is to examine the effects of foreign debt and the policies adopted to face them on the capacity of the Government to adopt programmes for the enjoyment of human rights. He will pay particular attention to the effects of debt relief initiatives the country has benefited from in recent years and their contribution to the better enjoyment of human rights.

During the course of his mission, the Independent Expert will meet with Government officials, members of Parliament and the country’s Ombudsman, as well as with representatives of the United Nations system, bilateral development cooperation agencies, the international financial institutions and civil society. The report of his mission will be presented to the Commission on Human Rights at its sixty-second session next year.

For further information on the mandate of the Independent Expert and relevant documents, please consult the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights ( http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/development/debt/index.htm)