Deployment of a Human Rights Adviser - 18 July 2007
Deployment of a Human Rights Adviser to the UN Country Team in the Maldives
Malé, Maldives:
The UN Resident Coordinator in the Maldives, Mr. Patrice Coeur-Bizot, announced the imminent deployment of a Human Rights Adviser to the UN Country Team (UNCT) in the Maldives, for an initial period of 6-12 months.
The Human Rights Adviser will be placed in the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator and will be supporting the UNCT in integrating human rights into the UN’s work at the country level and will be working with inter alia relevant Government Ministries, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the Human Rights Commission of Maldives, in advancing human rights awareness and understanding.
The deployment of the Human Rights Adviser is supported by UNDP, UNICEF, and UNFPA in the Maldives and the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR). It is part of an inter-agency programme (“Action 2 programme”), which was established in 2004 as part of the UN reform process. The programme aims to strengthen the human rights-related capacity of the United Nations at the country level, so that UNCTs can better respond to the needs of Member States in strengthening their national protection systems. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which chairs the interagency efforts under the programme, is responsible for providing expert advice to participating UNCTs, including through the deployment of Human Rights Advisers to a limited number of UNCTs which have requested such assistance. The Maldives is one of 40 countries currently participating in this programme.
In the context of the Maldives, the Human Rights Adviser is expected to support the UNCT in mainstreaming human rights in the UN agencies’ country programmes, within the context of the recently approved United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) and implementing human rights-related elements of the activities and programmes of the United Nations in Maldives. The UNDAF 2008-2010, signed by the Government of Maldives and the UN-Maldives, was developed using a rights-based approach and includes the commitment to promote the culture of respect for human rights at national and community levels and ensure progressive compliance with all ratified international human rights instruments.
Earlier this year, during the fourth session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Government of Maldives welcomed the planned deployment of a Human Rights Adviser and expressed hope that the UNCT will “help all Maldivians understand what their rights are and what these rights mean in practice”.
The deployment of the Human Rights Adviser comes at an opportune time as the Government moves forward with its reform agenda. The expertise of a full-time human rights specialist in the UNCT will help to further strengthen its programmes and work with the Government and other national partners, including the Human Rights Commission of Maldives and civil society, with a view to strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights in the Maldives.
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“The world must advance the causes of security, development and human rights together, otherwise none will succeed. Humanity will not enjoy security without development, it will not enjoy development without security and it will not enjoy either without respect for human rights,”
Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, 2005.
Notes to editors: For further enquiries, please contact Anna Senga, UN Coordination Specialist anna.senga@undp.org
