A/HRC/28/3 The examples of such work included in the present report reflect only a snapshot of OHCHR activities at Headquarters and in the field. 8. The final annual reports submitted by my predecessor to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly drew attention to the growing trend of requests for OHCHR support. This trend continued, with the creation of new mandates from intergovernmental bodies, calls for technical assistance from Member States and intensified engagement within the United Nations system in the security, development and humanitarian contexts, including with respect to the Human Rights Up Front plan of action. With regard to the plan of action, which is still in its infancy, the United Nations system is beginning to identify potential problems earlier, and in severe situations human rights are given more systemwide attention. Because of the ever-increasing demands placed on OHCHR, however, I must highlight the significant gap between those demands and the capacity available. As a matter of priority, I call for renewed political and financial support from Member States so that OHCHR is able to fulfil its critical mandate. 9. With regard to efficiency, OHCHR continued its efforts by establishing a resultsbased management system to ensure that its scant resources are planned and allocated to ensure maximum impact. As an example, the human rights treaty body strengthening process will provide significant regular budget resources through the reinvestment of funding obtained through simplified procedures. II. Thematic priorities A. Strengthening international human rights mechanisms 10. Human rights mechanisms continued to spotlight a wide range of human rights issues, both thematic and country-specific. They also brought new issues to the fore, provided an early warning function, gave a voice to victims and contributed to the development of international human rights law. 11. The thematic priorities of OHCHR are strengthened by the parallel work of human rights mechanisms. Despite various constraints, including of a budgetary nature, it was able to provide adequate support to each mechanism. OHCHR also worked on initiatives that strengthen cooperation among the mechanisms, promoting a holistic approach to implementation; for example, OHCHR advised States on establishing permanent national mechanisms for reporting and coordinating follow-up to all human rights recommendations. 1. Treaty bodies 12. The successful conclusion of the treaty body strengthening process was a landmark event. To the credit of Member States, in its resolution 68/268, the General Assembly set out a series of measures to address key challenges faced by the treaty bodies, including the backlog of State party reports and communications, chronic under-resourcing and insufficient compliance with reporting obligations. 13. The above-mentioned measures, which will come into effect in 2015, are funded by cost savings and efficiencies made within the system. They include more meeting time and human and financial resources from the regular budget. General Assembly resolution 68/268 included capacity-building measures, inter alia, additional staff capacity in OHCHR regional offices,– to be funded from the regular budget, to assist States parties to fulfil their human rights obligations. The Assembly also encouraged the treat bodies to modernize the treaty body system, to make it more accessible and to foster internal harmonization. 4

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents