Human Rights Council 29th session, item 10

Geneva, 1 July 2015

Mr. President,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Pursuant to Council resolution 18/18, I have the pleasure to share with you today this overview of successes, best practices, challenges and lessons learned in the implementation of our Office’s technical assistance and capacity building support in cooperation with Members States. 

The objective of OHCHR’s technical cooperation programme is to help States identify and address knowledge, capacity and accountability gaps that impede the realization of human rights for all.  At the request and with the agreement of States we provide, through our 64 field presences, a wide range of technical assistance, including capacity building activities, advisory services, awareness initiatives, dialogue facilitation and fellowships. 

Our technical cooperation programme continues to benefit from strategic policy guidance by the Board of Trustees that oversees the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights and the Voluntary Fund for Financial and Technical Assistance for the Implementation of the Universal Periodic Review.  I would like to take this opportunity to again thank the Trustees for their valuable support, which over the years has allowed us to sharpen our methodological tools and deepen the impact of our programmes.

The present 2014-2015 biennium has yielded many positive results and generated a number of good practices, and my intention today is to highlight a few initiatives that have supported the realization of human rights specifically by promoting participation and inclusiveness – under each of our six thematic strategies. In our experience, all technical cooperation must be based on the broadest possible participation in order to achieve its objectives in a sustainable manner. This means that all relevant actors should be engaged in all the stages of the process, from assessment and design to implementation, monitoring and evaluation. 

1. Many of the core activities carried out under our technical cooperation programme are geared towards strengthening the effectiveness of the international human rights mechanisms and the progressive development of international human rights law and standards. 

Here, the Office has continued its work to promote the establishment of national standing bodies for reporting and follow-up to recommendations from the international human rights mechanisms. 

For example, in the Dominican Republic, the UN Human Rights Adviser supported and facilitated the establishment of a permanent coordination mechanism to enhance civil society capacity to engage in the implementation of human rights recommendations.  This work also helped bring about a closer dialogue between the Government and civil society on the development of a national human rights action plan.

Similarly, the Human Rights and Protection Section of UNMIL in Liberia supported the Government’s efforts to establish a sustainable coordination mechanism for the ratification, reporting and implementation of international human rights instruments.  As a result of the Ministry of Justice’s close collaboration with other ministries, the Independent National Commission on Human Rights and civil society, Liberia now has a draft strategy.

In Timor-Leste, the Human Rights Adviser supported the preparations for a National Human Rights Action Plan in cooperation with the National Directive Commission led by the Ministry of Justice.  This broad-based and participatory process includes representatives from five different Ministries and Secretariats of State, the National Human Rights Institution, civil society, religious organizations and the private sector.  While the primary aim of this initiative is to enhance Timor-Leste’s capacity to implement its international human rights obligations, it has at the same time opened space for national dialogue and helped foster a culture of inclusiveness in public decision-making.

2. Discrimination is generally deeply ingrained in political, economic and social structures that make certain groups of people more vulnerable to poverty, exclusion and in some cases persecution and violence.  Many, often women,  are particularly at risk of social exclusion as they are often exposed to multiple forms of discrimination based on gender, religion, race, ethnicity, social origin, property or other circumstances. 

The Human Rights Adviser in Paraguay is working to help empower women and discriminated groups to increase their participation in policy design and public life. For example, as a result of discussions held with Paraguay’s Indigenous Institute, indigenous leaders presented State authorities with proposals on free, prior and informed consultation and governance with regard to land management. This interaction also led to the design of a protocol to ensure the full and active participation of indigenous groups in the implementation of social policies for poverty eradication.

In many countries, people with albinism have long suffered violence, discrimination, and exclusion. Because of this, they are often unable to access justice and unwilling to testify against perpetrators for fear of further violence and reprisals.  Children with albinism also often find themselves unable to attend school. In Tanzania, the Human Rights Adviser and the United Nations Country Team is working with the Government, the National Human Rights Institute and civil society to raise awareness and put in place measures to address this situation.

In Europe, OHCHR’s Regional Office has continued its work with the European Expert Group on the Transition from Institutional to Community-based Care. This coalition of international organizations and European civil society organizations is dedicated to upholding the human rights of vulnerable persons who are in care institutions, or are at risk of being placed in institutional care. This work has contributed to increasing the level of compliance of EU Member States with international human rights standards, including the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

3. The development of a society based on accountability, transparency and the rule of law requires that people are able to freely and safely exercise their fundamental freedoms of expression, assembly and association.  All this is essential so that we can widen the democratic space for people to take an active part in decision-making and challenge injustice through effective processes for political and judicial accountability.

During the 2014 Presidential and Provincial Council elections in Afghanistan, the Human Rights Unit of UNAMA supported the Government and electoral bodies in their efforts to create an inclusive and safe environment for female voters.  This included, for example, producing campaign materials for female candidates and putting in place gender sensitive security measures.  OHCHR’s regular consultations across the country with civil society, female candidates and women electoral workers were instrumental in making sure that gender concerns were picked up and addressed in a timely manner.

During this reporting period, OHCHR also continued to assist several countries to put in place strong and effective national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights in line with the Paris Principles, including in Jamaica, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, Somalia and Vanuatu.  Support to existing institutions was further provided in Burundi, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Fiji, Liberia, Niger and Samoa, to name a few. And as part of our ongoing work to support Myanmar on its path towards democracy, last year OHCHR contributed to the drafting of the new Law on the Myanmar Human Rights Commission, which was adopted by Parliament in April 2014.  The law provides the Myanmar Human Rights Commission with a broad mandate to carry out activities for the promotion and protection of human rights.

4. Combating impunity and strengthening accountability and the rule of law is essential to building sustainable development, peace and stability.  OHCHR’s work in this area is based on strong normative grounds and makes full use of its operational presence on the national, regional and global levels.

The Office provided human rights advice and support for the truth commissions in Tunisia and Côte d’Ivoire, as well as technical assistance in the preparation of related legislation in Mali and Nepal.  Particular attention was paid to ensuring that the rights if victims are kept at the centre of these process and that gender concerns are fully addressed. 

As another priority, OHCHR continues to support efforts to strengthen the administration of justice, especially with regards to the independence of the judiciary and the rights of persons deprived of their liberty.  In Papua New Guinea, OHCHR supported the Ombudsman Commission in developing its monitoring of places of detention.  In Mexico, the Office provided technical assistance in the review of the military justice code to strengthen the national capacity to fight impunity.

In Guatemala, the Office supported the Ministry of Justice and the police in developing a manual on the investigation of femicide, through a participatory and consultative process involving the judiciary and other experts in the administration of justice. The Office also assisted in setting up model courts and prosecutors’ offices that are specialized in combating violence against women.

5. OHCHR’s technical cooperation programme also contributes to integrating human rights in development and in the economic sphere and supports countries in pursuing social and economic equality through participatory and inclusive development. 

In Togo the Government adopted a human rights-based and participatory approach in the implementation and evaluation of its Second Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP II). OHCHR supported this process through training on human rights-based approaches for civil servants, staff of the National Human Rights Commission, the National Statistics Department and civil society organizations.

In the context of the European Union, progress was achieved in making it easier for rights-holders and civil society organizations to participate in the design and monitoring of European Union (EU) development policies. With the advice and support of OHCHR experts, the European Commission developed its first toolkit on the practical implementation of a human rights-based approach in relation to EU development programmes – in consultation with rights-holders and their representative organizations.

The Office also provided advice to the State of Palestine, in the wake of its accession to seven of the core international human rights treaties in April 2014. This opened new opportunities for OHCHR to work with the Palestinian authorities, as well as the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights and civil society, to ensure that the Palestinian National Development Plan is implemented in accordance with the legal obligations contained in the treaties.

6. A substantive and growing portion of our technical cooperation is geared towards supporting early warning and protection of human rights in situations of conflict, violence and insecurity.  Recent examples of conflict and unrest have again shown that patterns of human rights violations often provide early warning of an emerging crisis. 

In April this year, OHCHR and UNAMA in Afghanistan released a report entitled “Justice through the Eyes of Afghan Women: Cases of Violence against Women Addressed through Mediation and Court Adjudication”.  The report documents factors enabling and hindering women’s access to justice in cases of violence.  It reveals that a significant number of cases of violence against women are dealt with through mediation, rather than court adjudication, to obtain justice and remedies – and makes concrete recommendations on the adoption of legal, institutional and policy reforms to improve women’s access to justice in cases of violence.

During my visit to Colombia in April, I had the opportunity to participate in the Mesas Regionales (negotiating platforms) in Putumayo and Cauca – a process of dialogue facilitated by OHCHR which involves a wide spectrum of rights-holders and government actors.  The aim of this process is to find common ground on critical issues of social reform related to the ongoing peace negotiations. Our Colombia Office plays the role of mediator and proposes ways to make the dialogue more efficient with well-defined objectives, indicators, criteria and timelines. The main objective of OHCHR in this process is to promote confidence-building between the parties, so that they are willing to sit down together and jointly search for solutions through dialogue. 

Excellencies,

As the above tiny sample of our technical assistance efforts indicate, we have come a long way in working for the realization of all rights for all through a result-oriented and focused technical cooperation programme.  In order to ensure that this work is carried out in the most efficient and effective manner possible, our Office continuously undertakes monitoring and analysis to improve the allocation and alignment of resources, work processes and structures.  At the same time, the continued capacity of OHCHR to respond effectively to the growing demand for technical cooperation by Member States depends on our ability to mobilize and sustain sufficient technical, human and financial resources. In this spirit of mutual support and positive change, I look forward to continuing our cooperation with Member States and other partners in the year to come.

Thank you.