A/HRC/7/38
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the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
the United Nations Mission in Liberia and UNIOSIL, and contributed to the ongoing process
of analysis on the role of the United Nations Political Office for Somalia.
47. In 2007, my Office intensified its involvement with the work of the humanitarian
community, particularly through the Geneva-based inter-agency humanitarian settings. In
particular, OHCHR now chairs the newly established Reference Group on Human Rights and
Humanitarian Action, which is expected to facilitate the integration of a human rights-based
approach in humanitarian activities, include a human rights perspective to the advocacy
initiatives of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee and increase the level of awareness and
information-sharing about human rights initiatives with relevance to humanitarian action.
OHCHR actively contributes to mainstreaming human rights in humanitarian programming,
mainly through the Global Protection Cluster Working Group which it is co-leading, and the
work on the steering committee of the protection capacity programme. OHCHR has also actively
been involved in the work of the Global Protection Cluster and began providing support and
information to human rights field presences as the roll-out of the cluster approach continued
beyond the initial pilot phase.
48. The mainstreaming of human rights in the work of the United Nations system at the
country level remains a priority for OHCHR. To that end, efforts continued to further strengthen
cooperation with resident coordinators and United Nations country teams. In this context, as at
December 2007, OHCHR had international human rights advisers in Ecuador, Georgia (covering
Armenia and Azerbaijan), Guyana, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Somalia. Human rights
advisers were deployed in Rwanda, Indonesia, Maldives and Papua New Guinea in the course
of 2007 under Action 2 funds. A national adviser was appointed within the United Nations
country teams in Skopje and Belgrade.
49. Closer interaction with regional organizations is of great importance, particularly when
engaging with countries without an OHCHR presence. The Office extensively interacted with the
regional mechanisms of the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, aiming at strengthening cooperation in areas of mutual interest and
activities. With similar objectives, interaction was enhanced with the Inter-American System,
particularly with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. In Africa, OHCHR has
continued its engagement with regional organizations, inter alia, by attending the session of the
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the annual summit of Heads of
African States. Moreover, in the framework of the 10-year capacity-building programme for the
African Union, OHCHR organized a consultative meeting to identify priorities for
African Union-United Nations cooperation in the field of human rights, justice and reconciliation
for the period 2008-2009. OHCHR also supported activities of the Economic Commission for
Africa, such as the first African Civil Society Forum on the Millennium Development Goals and
the African Human Rights and Governance Report. In the Asia and Pacific region, OHCHR
supported the fourteenth Annual Workshop on Regional Cooperation for the Promotion and
Protection of Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific Region in Bali, Indonesia, in July, and provided
technical support in efforts to establish subregional human rights arrangements in the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the South Pacific. OHCHR also stepped up
interaction with the League of Arab States to explore future areas of cooperation.
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