UN HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE FIELD UN HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE FIELD UN HUMAN RIGHTS IN AFRICA ENGAGEMENT IN HUMANITARIAN ACTION The Office maintained strong engagement in humanitarian action at the global and field level with a view to ensuring that the protection of human rights remained a central tenet of humanitarian action in line with the UN’s Human Rights up Front Action Plan and the Inter-Agency Standing Committee’s (IASC) Centrality of Protection Agenda. During the reporting period, OHCHR participated in global humanitarian leadership fora, including the Joint Steering Committee to advance Humanitarian Development Collaboration and the IASC Principals, Working Group and Emergency Directors Group, as well as IASC subsidiary bodies, such as the Task Team on the HumanitarianDevelopment Nexus and the Task Team on the inclusion of persons with disabilities in humanitarian action. At the country level, OHCHR integrated human rights into the overall efforts of the Protection Clusters, humanitarian country teams (HTCs) and humanitarian coordinators. The Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights participated in the annual humanitarian coordinators retreat and OHCHR maintained the deployment of three staff members to advise the regional- and country-level humanitarian leadership of the crisis in Syria. OHCHR led the Protection Cluster in the State of Palestine and participated in the work of HCTs, Protection Clusters or working groups in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Mexico, Myanmar, Niger, Papua New Guinea, Somalia, Timor-Leste, Ukraine and Yemen, as well as in the Pacific and southern Africa regions. In 2018, OHCHR deployments in 188 UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2018 humanitarian action included missions to Bangladesh to conduct monitoring activities on the situation of the Rohingya population in Myanmar and to advise the HCT on human rights concerns and to Guatemala to support the integration of human rights into the humanitarian response in the aftermath of the earthquake. During the reporting period, the Central Emergency Response Fund supported the Office’s engagement in Ukraine. Mali (MINUSMA) G5 Sahel – Chad**** G5 Sahel – Mali**** G5 Sahel – Mauritania**** Chad Sudan (UNAMID) Mauritania West Africa (Dakar) South Sudan (UNMISS) Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS) East Africa (Addis Ababa) Somalia (UNSOM) Guinea Sierra Leone Uganda Liberia During 2018, the model of deploying regional Emergency Response Teams continued to be valuable in prevention efforts. Their delivery of early warning analysis informed preventive action. In addition, the linkage between an information management officer and a human rights officer empowered the Teams to engage UNCTs, resident coordinators and other stakeholders with actionable evidence. The overall strengthening of OHCHR’s information management and analysis progressed with a significant increase in the delivery of compelling information graphics that supported field presences. The development of the OHCHR Information Management Strategy set the groundwork for expanding information management resources to help OHCHR leverage its information more effectively for prevention. Kenya G5 Sahel – Burkina Faso**** Rwanda G5 Sahel – Niger**** Burundi Niger Malawi Nigeria Madagascar UN Sub-Regional Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa (Yaoundé) Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) TYPE OF PRESENCE Central African Republic (MINUSCA) Zimbabwe Southern Africa (Pretoria) LOCATION Country/Stand-alone Offices/ Human Rights Missions Burundi, Chad, Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania, Uganda Regional Offices/Centres Central Africa (Yaoundé, Cameroon), East Africa (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), Southern Africa (Pretoria, South Africa), West Africa (Dakar, Senegal) Human rights components of UN Peace/Political Missions Central African Republic (MINUSCA), Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO/UNJHRO), Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS), Mali (MINUSMA), Somalia (UNSOM), South Sudan (UNMISS), Sudan (UNAMID) Human Rights Advisers deployed under the framework of the UNDG Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone (up to 31 March 2018), Zimbabwe Other types of field presences G5 Sahel Joint Force Compliance Framework Project (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger) **** G5 Sahel Joint Force Compliance Framework Project (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger). The work of OHCHR in Africa covers 49 countries of Africa. The mandate of the Human Rights Adviser in Sierra Leone ended on 31 December 2018 and the United Nations Mission in Liberia closed on 30 March 2018. The Office supported four regional offices, specifically, East Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa and Central Africa; six country offices in Burundi (closed in March 2019), Chad, Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania and Uganda; seven Human Rights Advisers (HRAs) in UN Country Teams (UNCTs) in Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone (until 31 December 2018) and Zimbabwe, as well as one Human Rights Adviser/officer in Niger; and seven human rights presences in United Nations Peace Missions in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan (Darfur). The Office provided support to five special procedures country mandates, namely, Somalia (1999), Sudan (2009), Eritrea (2012), Mali (2013) and Central African Republic (2013) and to the work of the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi (2016), the Commission on Human Rights on South Sudan (2016) and the team of international human rights experts in the Kasai region of the DRC. During 2018, the continent faced tensions linked to contested electoral processes (Burundi) or political impasses (DRC), which were marred with violations of civil and political rights and the targeting of political opponents, media workers, human rights defenders and civil society representatives. There were also severe restrictions to civic space outside of electoral processes (Chad, Equatorial Guinea, UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2018 189