UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL VISITS OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

25 January 1999




United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan this afternoon paid a visit to the Palais Wilson, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Arriving at 3.30 p.m., Mr. Annan was welcomed by Mary Robinson, the High Commissioner for Human Rights; Bertie Ramcharan, the Deputy High Commissioner; and Bacre Waly Ndiaye, the Director of the High Commissioner’s New York Office.

The Secretary-General had a working session with the High Commissioner and the Deputy High Commissioner, which was followed by a meeting with the staff of the Office. Mrs. Robinson welcomed the Secretary-General whom she said had given consistent priority to speaking out in favour of universal human rights and in defence of the victims of aggression or abuse. She said central to Mr. Annan’s reform and renewal of the United Nations itself was the integration of human rights values throughout the programmes and agencies of the United Nations family.

Mrs. Robinson noted that this was the first visit of the Secretary-General to the Palais Wilson, the new Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights which has been called “The House of Human Rights.” She paid tribute to the loyalty and commitment of the staff of the Office working under stress, both in Geneva and in the field.

Staff members briefed the Secretary-General on a number of areas of the work of the Office. In response, Mr. Annan said the briefing had given him a good sense of the direction the Office was developing, adding that human rights was an area which he attached the highest priority to. He said he appreciated the work of Mrs. Robinson, and what she was doing to improve the professionalism and quality of the work of the Office.

The Secretary-General said that the greatest assets of the United Nations were the quality of its ideas; the professionalism of its work; and the quality of its output, the technical competence of its documents; and the integrity it displayed. He said he was conscious of the budgetary pressures the Office was under, and said he was working with the High Commissioner to resolve related administrative problems. He said the staff of the Office was already very productive, but that once personnel issues were resolved, they would be even more productive.

Mr. Annan said last year, the United Nations commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That was a very important year and the United Nations had been able to engage the entire world community and civil society in this effort. This year, the 10th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child was being commemorated. It was important that as the world entered the twenty-first century, it was focused on the needs and rights of all children. There would also be celebrations of the Geneva Conventions which the United Nations would be participating in.

After he left the Palais Wilson, the Secretary-General met with Vladimir Petrovsky, both in his capacity as Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva and Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament. They discussed issues related to UNOG and the Conference on Disarmament.