About UN Human Rights
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
(UN Human Rights) is the leading UN entity on human
rights. The General Assembly entrusted both the High
Commissioner and his Office with a unique mandate to
promote and protect all human rights for all people. The
United Nations human rights programme aims to ensure that the protection and enjoyment of human rights
is a reality in the lives of all people. UN Human Rights
also plays a crucial role in safeguarding the integrity of
the three interconnected pillars of the United Nations
– peace and security, human rights and development.
Mandate of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights
General Assembly resolution 48/141 charges the High
Commissioner for Human Rights with “principal responsibility” for human rights in the United Nations with the
mandate to:
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UN Human Rights provides assistance in the form of
technical expertise and capacity-development in order
to support the implementation of international human
rights standards on the ground. It assists governments,
which bear the primary responsibility for the protection
of human rights, to fulfil their obligations and supports
individuals to claim their rights. Moreover, it speaks out
objectively on human rights violations.
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UN Human Rights is part of the United Nations Secretariat and has its headquarters in Geneva, as well as
an office in New York. Its staff is based in 59 field presences, in regional and country/stand-alone offices,
United Nations peace or special political missions and
in United Nations Country Teams (UNCTs).
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Promote and protect all human rights for all;
Recommend that bodies of the United Nations system improve the promotion and protection of all
human rights;
Promote and protect the right to development;
Provide technical assistance for human rights activities;
Coordinate United Nations human rights education
and public information programmes;
Work actively to remove obstacles to the realization of human rights;
Work actively 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;
Coordinate human rights promotion and protection
activities throughout the United Nations system;
and
Rationalize, adapt, strengthen and streamline the
UN human rights machinery.
Method
The work of UN Human Rights encompasses three
broad areas, namely, human rights standard-setting,
monitoring and supporting the implementation of
human rights obligations by States. Substantive and
technical support is provided to the various UN human
rights bodies as they undertake their standard-setting
and monitoring duties. Knowledge and awareness of
all human rights, whether civil, cultural, economic, political or social rights, are deepened and the capacity
of rights-holders and duty-bearers are strengthened
through applied thematic research and analyses,
methodologies, development and training. International human rights experts are also deployed to field
offices and other missions, including in circumstances
of crisis, to assist countries that are working to fulfil
their human rights obligations.
The work of UN Human Rights is based on the Office’s
Management Plan (OMP), which guides implementation of the Human Rights Programme of the SecretaryGeneral’s Strategic Framework. By aligning the whole
Office to a common set of results connected with the
various components of its mandate, the OMP enhanced
the Office’s effectiveness in implementing the Strategic
Framework, increasing synergies across functions and
ensuring the best possible use of available resources.
This is the last annual report relating to the OMP covering the period from 2014-2017. The achievements
that were attained under the six thematic priorities in
2017 are summarized in the printed version of the report and are listed under the corresponding field presence or division chapters that can be found on the
annexed USB key. The OMP 2014-2017 also identified
eight global management outputs (GMOs) to improve
UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2017
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