About prevention and human rights

Every step towards greater implementation of the human rights agenda is an act of prevention ­– strengthening the bonds between communities, and reinforcing inclusive development and peace.

Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights 
‘The UDHR: A prevention tool to achieve peace and sustainable development’, New York, 26 September 2018

The goal that every human being should have full enjoyment of their human rights implies that no-one should suffer violations of those rights. The prevention of human rights violations is therefore a key part of the United Nations’ efforts to protect and promote human rights for all. 

The United Nations human rights system – the treaties, bodies and mechanisms that have been created over the years to promote human rights – aims wherever possible to prevent human rights violations from occurring in the first place or, when violations do occur, to address their causes so that they do not reoccur in the future. OHCHR works with Member States to support their capacity to prevent human rights violations. The Human Rights Council has also been looking at ways to strengthen its own prevention mandate.

A virtuous circle of prevention and protection

Human rights have a wider role to play in achieving the other purposes of the United Nations: promoting sustainable development, preventing conflict and sustaining peace. Under the United Nations Charter, the protection of human rights is closely linked to the prevention of crisis and conflict and the maintenance of international peace and security. Human rights violations are often a consequence of violence and conflict, but they can also drive violent conflict, so addressing human rights can serve to reduce the risk of violence and conflict. 

The Secretary-General, in his Prevention Vision, has called on all parts of the United Nations to do “everything we can to help countries to avert the outbreak of crises that take a high toll on humanity, undermining institutions and capacities to achieve peace and development”. The Secretary-General’s Call to Action on Human Rights emphasizes that the best form of protection is to avert the threats to people’s lives and rights and that “there is no better guarantee of prevention than for Member States to meet their human rights responsibilities”. Putting in place systems to ensure that human rights are protected for everyone is an essential component of the international system for conflict and crisis prevention. 

OHCHR works with other parts of the United Nations System, including the Executive Office of the Secretary-General, the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, the Department of Peace Operations, the Development Coordination Office and the United Nations Operations and Crisis Centre, to ensure that human rights are central to United Nations prevention efforts.

The Prevention Shift

OHCHR, through its current Office Management Plan, has prioritized prevention as a cross-cutting “shift” throughout its work. Human rights work is often, by its nature, reactive to events, after human rights violations, conflict or crisis are already a reality. Through the Prevention Shift, OHCHR aims to engage earlier and more strategically to address the risk of violations, conflict or crisis before they impact on people’s lives. 

OHCHR is developing its early warning capabilities and working with the rest of the United Nations system to make prevention and peacebuilding a reality on the ground. Effective early warning and prevention requires that attention be paid to all human rights – economic, social and cultural rights as much as civil and political rights – and that risks are addressed as early as possible, in development contexts as well as in crisis response and peace operations.