PART 5:

THE OFFICE OF THE

HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN
RIGHTS (OHCHR) AND PARTNERS

5.1 Office of the High Commissioner for

Human Rights
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has prime responsi-
bility for the overall protection and promotion of all human rights. Deriving
its mandate from the United Nations Charter, the Vienna Declaration and
Programme of Action and the General Assembly, the OHCHR’s mission is to
spearhead efforts of people worldwide for the promotion and protection of human rights so
that everyone can live in a society shaped and governed in the image of the international
human rights standards agreed upon by the United Nations.
In pursing this mission, the OHCHR has four strategic aims:
1. To enhance the effectiveness of the United Nations human rights
machinery;
2. To increase United Nations system-wide implementation and co-
ordination of human rights;
3. To build national, regional and international capacity to promote and
protect human rights;
4. To analyze, process and disseminate reports, recommendations and reso-
lutions of human rights organs and bodies, as well as other relevant
human rights information.
OHCHR is mandated to take a leading role in regard to human rights issues
and to stimulate and co-ordinate human rights activities and programmes.

a. The High Commissioner

The OHCHR is headed by a High Commissioner with the rank of Under
Secretary-General who reports to the Secretary-General. The High Commis-
sioner is responsible for:
v all activities of the OHCHR, as well as for its administration;

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 v carrying out the functions specifically assigned by the above-mentioned
General Assembly resolution and subsequent resolutions of policy-
making bodies;
v advising the Secretary-General on policies of the United Nations in the
area of human rights;
v ensuring that substantive and administrative support is given to the proj-
ects, activities, organs and bodies of the human rights programme;
v representing the Secretary-General at meetings of human rights organs
and at other human rights events; and
v carrying out special assignments as decided by the Secretary-General.
The incumbent High Commissioner is Ms Mary Robinson, former President
of Ireland. The United Nations General Assembly approved her appoint-
ment in June 1997 and Ms. Robinson took up her duties as High Commis-
sioner for Human Rights on 12 September 1997.

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner

for Human Rights
Postal: 8 - 14 avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10 • Switzerland
Telephone number: (+41 22) 917 90 00
Fax number: (41 22) 917 91 83
E-mail: [email protected]

The High Commissioner is assisted in all activities by a Deputy High Com-

missioner who acts as Officer-in-Charge during the absence of the High
Commissioner. In addition, the Deputy High Commissioner carries out spe-
cific substantive and administrative assignments as determined by the High
Commissioner.

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 The High Commissioner’s functions
as listed in GA resolution 48/141
• to promote and protect the effective enjoyment by all of all civil,
cultural, economic, political and social rights;
• to carry out the tasks assigned to him/her by the competent bodies of
the United Nations system in the field of human rights and to make
recommendations to them with a view to improving the promotion and
protection of all human rights;
• to promote and protect the realization of the rights to development and
to enhance support from relevant bodies of the United Nations system
for this purpose;
• to provide, through the [Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights] and other appropriate institutions, advisory services and
technical and financial assistance, at the request of the State concerned
and, where appropriate, the regional human rights organizations, with a
view to supporting actions and programmes in the field of human
rights;
• to coordinate relevant United Nations education and public
information programmes in the field of human rights;
• to play an active role in removing the current obstacles and in meeting
the challenges to the full realization of all human rights and in
preventing the continuation of human rights violations throughout the
world, as reflected in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of
Action;
• to engage in a dialogue with all Governments in the implementation of
his/her mandate with a view to securing respect for all human rights;
• to enhance international cooperation for the promotion and protection
of all human rights;
• to coordinate human rights promotion and protection activities
throughout the United Nations system;
• to rationalize, adapt, strengthen and streamline the United Nations
machinery in the field of human rights with a view to improving its
efficiency and effectiveness;
• to carry out overall supervision of the [Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights].

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 b. OHCHR in Geneva
OHCHR has its headquarters in Geneva. The Front Office and three major
divisions or branches are responsible for the functioning of the Office.

Front Office
The core functions of the Front Office are to assist the High Commissioner
in policy-making, external representation, and fund-raising activities.

Research and Right to Development Branch

The core functions of the Research and Right to Development Branch are as
follows:
(a) Promoting and protecting the right to development, particularly by:
(i) Supporting intergovernmental groups of experts on the prepara-
tion of the strategy for the right to development;
(ii) Assisting in the analysis of the voluntary reports by States to the
High Commissioner on the progress made and steps taken for the
realization of the right to development and on obstacles encoun-
tered;
(iii) Conducting research projects on the right to development and pre-
paring substantive contributions for submission to the General
Assembly, the Commission on Human Rights and treaty bodies;
(iv) Assisting in the substantive preparation of advisory service proj-
ects and educational material on the right to development;
(v) Providing analytical appraisal and support to the High Commis-
sioner in his or her mandate to enhance system-wide support for
the right to development;
(b) Carrying out research projects on the full range of human rights issues
of interest to United Nations human rights bodies in accordance with
the priorities established by the Vienna Declaration and Programme of
Action and resolutions of policy-making bodies;
(c) Providing substantive services to human rights organs engaged in
standard-setting activities;
(d) Preparing documents, reports or draft reports, summaries, abstracts and
position papers in response to particular requests, as well as substantive
contributions to information material and publications;
(e) Providing policy analysis, advice and guidance on substantive proce-
dures;

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(f) Managing the information services of the human rights programme,
including the documentation centre and library, enquiry services and the
human rights databases;
(g) Preparing studies on relevant articles of the Charter of the United
Nations for the Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs.

Support Services Branch

The core functions of the Support Services Branch are as follows:
(a) Planning, preparing and servicing sessions/meetings of the Commission
on Human Rights, the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protec-
tion of Human Rights (formerly Sub-Commission on Prevention of
Discrimination and Protection of Minorities) and related working
groups, human rights treaty monitoring bodies and their working groups;
(b) Ensuring that substantive support is provided in a timely manner to the
human rights treaty body concerned, drawing on the appropriate
resources of the human rights programme;
(c) Preparing lists of issues based on State party reports for review by the
treaty body concerned and following up on decisions and recommenda-
tions;
(d) Preparing and co-ordinating the submission of all documents including
inputs from other Branches to the activities of treaty bodies and follow-
ing up on decisions taken at meetings of those bodies;
(e) Planning, preparing and servicing sessions of boards of trustees of the
following voluntary funds: United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims
of Torture, United Nations Voluntary Fund on Contemporary Forms of
Slavery, United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations and
United Nations Voluntary Fund for the International Decade of the
World’s Indigenous People, and implementing relevant decisions;
(f) Processing communications submitted to treaty bodies under optional
procedures and communications under the procedures established by
the Economic and Social Council in its resolution 1503 (XLVIII) of 27
May 1970 and ensuring follow-up.

Activities and Programmes Branch

The core functions of the Activities and Programmes Branch are as follows:
(a) Developing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating advisory services
and technical assistance projects at the request of Governments;

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 (b) Managing the Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in the Field of
Human Rights;
(c) Administering the Plan of Action of the United Nations Decade for
Human Rights Education, including the development of information
and educational material;
(d) Providing substantive and administrative support to human rights fact-
finding and investigatory mechanisms, such as special rapporteurs, repre-
sentatives and experts and working groups mandated by the Commis-
sion on Human Rights and/or the Economic and Social Council to deal
with specific country situations or phenomena of human rights viola-
tions worldwide, as well as the General Assembly’s Special Committee to
Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestin-
ian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories;
(e) Planning, supporting and evaluating human rights field presence and mis-
sions, including the formulation and development of best practices, proce-
dural methodology and models for all human rights activities in the field;
(f) Managing voluntary funds for human rights field presence.

c. The New York Office

A Director who is accountable to the High Commissioner heads the New
York Office. The core functions of the New York Office are as follows:
(a) Representing the High Commissioner at Headquarters, at meetings of
policy-making bodies, permanent missions of Member States, interde-
partmental, inter-agency meetings, non-governmental organizations,
professional groups, academic conferences and the media;
(b) Providing information and advice on human rights issues to the Execu-
tive Office of the Secretary-General;
(c) Providing substantive support on human rights issues to the General
Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and other policy-making
bodies established in New York.

d. Field Presence
OHCHR’s offices and human rights operations in the field were established
progressively. In 1992 there was one operation; by 1999 OHCHR maintained
human rights field offices in Abkhazia Georgia, Afghanistan, Angola,
Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, Cambodia, Central African
Republic, Chad, Colombia, Croatia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, El Sal-
vador, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia,

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Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mongolia, Occupied Palestinian Territory, includ-
ing East Jerusalem, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Southern African region, Togo
and Uganda. While most of these field presences are directly administered by
OHCHR, in some countries they are part of United Nations peace-keeping
missions. In such cases, they are administered by DPKO or DPA and OHCHR
provides ongoing substantive guidance and support on human rights issues.
Human rights field presences have been established in response to a wide
variety of human rights concerns, with mandates focused on each particular
situation.
Some field presences have focused on technical co-operation activities, pro-
viding Governments with assistance in developing their national capacity to
protect human rights. These human rights offices typically provide: assistance
to national judicial systems; help in the development and reform of national
legislation in accordance with a country’s international human rights obliga-
tions; and human rights education and training for national officials, NGOs,
and students.
Other human rights field offices or operations have been established in
response to human rights violations in the context of armed conflict. Since
human rights violations are frequently at the root of conflict and humanitar-
ian crisis, the United Nations human rights programme recognizes that a criti-
cal step in preventing and bringing an end to conflicts is to ensure the respect
of human rights.
The mandates and activities of field presences in conflict situations require
human rights officers to conduct monitoring and investigations of a range of
violations of international human rights law. Regular reports are prepared on
the human rights situation in these countries, and these are used by the United
Nations in efforts to put an end to impunity, and to protect human rights in
the future. Monitoring activities are frequently accompanied by human rights
promotion and training programmes intended to begin constructing a human
rights base which will contribute to the end of armed conflict and the estab-
lishment of lasting peace.
Further, the High Commissioner has emphasized the need to promote
respect for human rights in the context of peacekeeping, peacemaking and
post-conflict peace building.
While OHCHR’s presence in the field was once perceived as exceptional, it is
today a regular and substantial component of the Office’s work.
For OHCHR field office contact details, see Annex III. For further information visit the OHCHR web-
site at: http://www.unhchr.ch/

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 5.2 United Nations partners
The United Nations operates through an elaborate structure of specialized
agencies and bodies to carry out components of the mandate and objectives
of the Organization. While OHCHR has prime responsibility for the overall
United Nations human rights programme, most United Nations partners are
mandated to some extent to promote or protect particular rights, vulnerable
groups or human rights issues. These partners specialize in a wide diversity of
human rights issues which include, inter alia, women, refugees, children,
health, labour rights, development, education, humanitarian assistance, food,
population, the environment and science.
Since the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights, human rights have
assumed a more prominent place in the United Nations system. The
Secretary-General’s Programme for Reform has accelerated this process and
expanded the human rights programme throughout the system. Further
mainstreaming of human rights in the United Nations system continues to be
one of the major tasks of OHCHR in collaboration with its partners.
United Nations partners work together to co-ordinate activities relating to
human rights. Comprehensive human rights training of United Nations staff
is indispensable for the further mainstreaming of human rights into the
United Nations system and for enhanced co-ordination of related activities.
Establishment of human rights focal points within each component of the
United Nations system, as well as development of joint or co-ordinated pro-
grammes addressing human rights issues, will provide the organizational
framework for cooperation in this area. Strengthening cooperation and co-
ordination at national level, with a view to assisting more effectively in imple-
menting human rights standards by Governments and civil society, must be
the focus of attention of all those involved. The human rights dimension
should be included in the design and realization of all United Nations co-
ordinated country programmes. The establishment of human rights focal
points in United Nations field offices can ensure a continuing focus on these
rights. OHCHR provides substantive guidance to partners, with a view to put-
ting in place a consistent approach to human rights system-wide.
For further information see the official WEB Site Locator for the United Nations System of Organiza-
tions: http://www.unsystem.org/index8.html

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