A/HRC/20/4
programmes are required to prevent land management which results in human rights
violations. Subsequent to a consultation convened in 2010 between OHCHR and experts in
the field, the Office is working to analyse the existing international normative framework
applicable to land and human rights issues and to identify gaps in policies, guidance and
analysis in order to assist interested stakeholders in addressing land issues from a human
rights perspective. In this context, OHCHR is in the process of developing a number of
documents and tools. The Office has also been providing technical advice to the
development of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of
Lands, Forests and Fisheries, currently being negotiated under the auspices of the
Committee on World Food Security of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations, to ensure that the Guidelines are consistent with international human rights
standards.
5.
OHCHR has continued to advocate for the land rights of indigenous peoples in
various forums. In particular, the issue of consultation and free, prior and informed consent
with regards to extractive industries and development projects was specifically addressed in
the High Commissioner’s media statement of 9 August 2011 on the Day of the World’s
Indigenous People. OHCHR also provided support to the Expert Mechanism on the Rights
of Indigenous Peoples as it continues to build upon its 2011 study on indigenous peoples
and the right to participate in decision making in 2012, with a focus on extractive
industries. The Expert Mechanism will further address its work in this area at its 2012
session.
6.
The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action notes that in order to “strengthen
the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, additional approaches should be
examined, such as a system of indicators to measure progress in the realization of the rights
set forth in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights”.2 In this
respect, OHCHR continues to provide support and methodology at the request of a growing
number of government actors, national human rights institutions as well as civil society
organisations engaged in strengthening the development and use of indicators to enhance
the implementation and measurement of economic, social and cultural rights. Technical
assistance was provided to countries and stakeholders, including in Bolivia, Ecuador,
Kenya, Kosovo, Mexico, Nepal, Serbia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland. In 2012, OHCHR will release a practical guide that will help disseminate
and operationalize the methodology on indicators, particularly economic, social and
cultural rights. Drawing on the methodology outlined in this guide, new publications on
country-level initiatives on indicators relevant to economic, social and cultural rights were
released in Mexico, Nepal and the United Kingdom.
7.
Since 2005, OHCHR has coordinated the World Programme for Human Rights
Education which aims to advance human rights education in all sectors. The World
Programme promotes, inter alia, “the interdependence, interrelatedness, indivisibility and
universality of human rights, including civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights
and the right to development”.3 The current phase (2010-2014) focuses on human rights
education for higher education and on human rights training for teachers and educators,
civil servants, law enforcement officials and military personnel.
8.
In the area of humanitarian action, OHCHR supported the development of checklists
to integrate human rights in other sectors of humanitarian programming, including in
health, water and sanitation programmes, in a number of field presences, including Fiji,
2
3
4
Para. 98.
Plan of action for the second phase of the World Programme for Human Rights Education (A/HRC/15/28),
para. 9 (a).
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