A/HRC/25/19 I. Introduction 1. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has come a long way since 1993, when the post of High Commissioner was created at the World Conference on Human Rights to ensure that an independent, authoritative voice would speak out at the global level against human rights violations, wherever they occurred. The twentieth anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action and of the establishment of the mandate of the High Commissioner provided an opportunity to reaffirm the principles of the Vienna Declaration, not least the universality, indivisibility and interdependence of all human rights, including the right to development, and the duty of the State, regardless of its political, economic and cultural system, to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms. This anniversary also provided the opportunity to assess progress made in the promotion and protection of human rights and the evolution of OHCHR and its achievements. Throughout my term, OHCHR has forthrightly confronted a multitude of pressing and challenging human rights issues in an increasingly complex and ever-changing world. 2. One of the most notable developments during my term has been the remarkable recognition of the importance of human rights within the United Nations system and as one of the three pillars of the Organization, together with peace and security, and development. Most recently, the report of the Secretary-General’s Internal Review Panel on United Nations action in Sri Lanka,1 together with the subsequent “Rights Up Front” plan of action, reaffirmed the centrality of human rights to the work of the United Nations, and provides critical recommendations for the whole system to be more responsive and responsible in preventing and addressing promptly human rights issues. OHCHR is committed to playing a leading role in ensuring follow-up to this landmark document, which, if effectively and collectively implemented, will contribute significantly to peace and security and to development. 3. In November 2013, the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, under the leadership of the Secretary-General, endorsed a significant statement on human rights, reaffirming the system’s commitment to the human rights principles of the United Nations, recognizing the responsibility of the entire system to uphold human rights norms and standards and pledging support for the “Rights Up Front” plan of action. We will continue to build on this achievement, and I trust that OHCHR will continue to pioneer the way forward, together with its partners worldwide. 4. The Office has continued to respond to a steadily growing number of requests for engagement and assistance. As at December 2013, OHCHR supported 59 field presences: 13 country/stand-alone offices, 15 human rights components of peacekeeping and special political missions, 12 regional offices and centres, and 19 human rights advisers with United Nations Resident Coordinators and country teams. These presences are critical to providing national counterparts with direct and targeted assistance in addressing human rights issues. During the period under review, the United Nations Development Group human rights mainstreaming mechanism agreed to the deployment of 13 new human rights advisers. 5. In September 2013, the interim Government of Egypt notified OHCHR of its willingness to host an OHCHR regional office for North Africa in Cairo, a process that was 1 Available from www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/The_Internal_Review_Panel_report_on_Sri_Lanka.pdf. 3