Source description last updated: 17 February 2022

In brief: The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nations, mandated to promote and protect human rights and to prevent human rights violations.

Coverage on ecoi.net:

Press Releases by Special Rapporteurs and Experts for countries of priorities A-C, reports on the human rights situation in Ukraine.
Covered weekly on ecoi.net.

Common Core Documents for countries of priorities A-D.
Covered quarterly on ecoi.net.

Mission/Mandate/Objectives:

“The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN Human Rights) is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote and protect the enjoyment and full realization, by all people, of all human rights. The Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and international human rights laws and treaties established those rights. [...]

UN Human Rights is mandated:

●       Promote and protect all human rights for all

●       Recommend that bodies of the UN system improve the promotion and protection of all human rights

●       Promote and protect the right to development

●       Provide technical assistance to States for human rights activities

●       Coordinate UN human rights education and public information programmes

●       Work actively to remove obstacles to the realization of human rights and to prevent the continuation of human rights violations

●       Engage in dialogue with Governments in order to secure respect for all human rights

●       Enhance international cooperation for the promotion and protection of all human rights

●       Coordinate human rights promotion and protection activities throughout the United Nations system

●       Rationalize, adapt, strengthen and streamline the UN human rights machinery” (OHCHR Website, Who We Are, undated)

Funding:

“Almost two thirds of UN Human Rights’ income comes from voluntary contributions from Member States and other donors. The remainder is covered by the UN regular budget. The UN regular budget, approved by the General Assembly, is funded by “assessed contributions” from each Member State. These are determined according to a formula that takes into account the size and strength of their respective national economies. The 2020 regular budget is the first annual budget prepared in accordance with the UN management reform agenda. Indeed, during its seventy-second session, the General Assembly approved the proposed change from a biennial to an annual budget cycle on a trial basis, beginning with the programme budget for 2020. The General Assembly will review the implementation of the annual budget at its seventy-seventh session in September 2022, with a view to taking a final decision.” (OHCHR Website, OHCHR’s Funding and Budget, undated)

Scope of reporting:

Geographic focus: Worldwide; field presences through country offices, regional offices, peace missions and human rights advisers

Thematic focus: Human rights issues, e.g. civil and political rights, freedom of religion, health, internal displacement, trafficking in persons, etc. (OHCHR Website, List of Human Rights Issues, undated)

Methodology:

“[...] the High Commissioner for Human Rights and her Office (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – OHCHR) provide assistance to Governments so they can implement the international human rights standards they've committed to. This assistance includes expertise and technical trainings in the areas of administration of justice, legislative reform, and electoral processes. We also assist other entities with responsibility to protect human rights to fulfil their obligations and individuals to realize their rights. We support the establishment and strengthening of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs), and collaborate with them to implement their mandates to promote and protect human rights. We also work closely with civil society actors to build their knowledge of human rights and promote their participation in UN decision-making processes.

We work to offer the best expertise, and substantive and secretariat support to the different United Nations human rights bodies as they discharge their standard-setting and monitoring duties. OHCHR, for example, serves as the Secretariat of the Human Rights Council. The Council is an intergovernmental body made up of 47 States nominated by the UN General Assembly. It is responsible for strengthening human rights globally and addressing human rights violations.

We also support the work of independent thematic and country experts, known as special procedures. These experts are appointed by the Council to monitor human rights in different countries or in relation to specific issues. We assist them as they carry out visits to the field, receive and consider direct complaints from victims of human rights violations, and appeal to governments on behalf of victims.

[...] Finally, OHCHR provides legal research and secretariat support to the core human rights treaty bodies. These committees of independent experts are mandated to monitor State parties' compliance with their treaty obligations. They meet regularly to examine reports from State parties and issue their recommendations.” (OHCHR Website, What we do, undated)

Languages of publications:

Website in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic and Chinese; not all publications available in all of these languages

Further reading / links:

OHCHR in the World: making human rights a reality on the ground, undated
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/Pages/WorkInField.aspx

Methodological note:

ecoi.net's source descriptions contain background information on an organisation’s mission & objective, funding and reporting methodology, as well as on how we cover the source. The descriptions were prepared after researching publicly accessible information within time constraints. Most information contained in a source description was taken from the source itself. The aim is to provide a brief introduction to the sources covered regularly, offering information on relevant aspects in one place in a systematic manner. 

All links accessed 17 February 2022.