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32.
In 2006, my Office conducted a review of human rights advisers deployed to Resident
Coordinator’s Offices, with a view to enhancing their effectiveness by standardizing the policies
and approaches for their deployment. The review found, among other things, that strong support
and commitment from Resident Coordinators have been essential for the effective functioning of
Human Rights Advisers and integration of human rights at the country level. We are now
working on standardizing the basic conditions and operating procedures in place for such
deployments.
33.
In my Plan of Action, I made it one of the priorities for my Office to support Resident
Coordinators, and indeed the whole United Nations Country Team, so that they have adequate
capacities to meet their commitment to mainstream human rights. Resident and Humanitarian
Coordinators need to have adequate knowledge of human rights and United Nations human
rights mechanisms, as well as strong competency to promote international standards and
principles with national actors. In 2006, I personally took part in the induction briefing
organized for new Resident Coordinators, and interacted with Humanitarian Coordinators and
senior leaders of peacekeeping operations, emphasizing human rights as a central pillar of the
United Nations system, and that operational activities of the United Nations system at the
country level must be firmly grounded in principles and standards embodied in international
human rights instruments and contribute towards the realization of human rights. My Office also
led the development of a Human Rights Guidance Note for Humanitarian Coordinators, which
was issued by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee in 2006.
34.
Finally, national human rights institutions (NHRIs) are a key element of the OHCHR
country engagement strategy as indispensable actors for any long-term human rights approach in
a country or region. OHCHR, including through its National Institutions Unit, has helped
establish and strengthen NHRIs as important partners in its work. During 2006, the National
Institutions Unit of OHCHR has provided advice on the establishment or strengthening of
National Human Rights Institutions. This has included advice on appointments procedures (in
Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka and Kosovo); and on enabling legislation to establish a national human
rights commission (Comoros; Mauritania; Pakistan; Nepal; Scotland, United Kingdom; Uruguay
and Chile). The Unit works in cooperation with various national and international counterparts,
including Human Rights Components of United Nations peace missions (e.g. Iraq, Sudan,
Timor-Leste).
III. STRENGTHENING THEMATIC EXPERTISE
A. Operationalizing the right to development
35.
Following my Plan of Action, the Office continued to place high priority in supporting
the implementation of the right to development and the resolve of the world leaders made in the
Millennium Declaration to “making the right to development a reality for everyone” and to
“freeing the entire human race from want”. As already articulated, poverty is one of the gravest
human rights challenges of our time, and represents one of the greatest obstacles for the
implementation of the right to development. Increasingly, poverty is seen as both a cause and a
consequence of human rights violations. And yet the linkage between extreme deprivation and
abuse remains at the margin of policy debates and development strategies. To draw attention to
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