A/HRC/10/46
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47. In connection with its long-standing cooperation with UN-Habitat, the Office participated
and contributed to the 4th World Urban Forum in November 2008 on Harmonious Cities. In this
context, the Deputy High Commissioner underlined the importance of the right to adequate
housing and the protection against forced evictions in urban planning processes. The Office also
stressed the need to address discrimination against women, notably in laws and policies, to
ensure sustainable urbanization. In 2008, OHCHR also collaborated with the CEO Water
Mandate of the United Nations Global Compact to raise awareness about the right to water and
advocate for the integration of the right to water in this initiative.
48. Collaborative efforts were made to address economic, social and cultural rights issues
through working groups, task forces and United Nations Country Teams (UNCTs), particularly
at the country level. Several field presences have also continued to build the capacity of other
United Nations agencies and UNCTs on human rights-based approaches to development, poverty
reduction or specific issues including water management, environmental protection, food or
health. For example, the OHCHR Regional Office in Latin America conducted several trainings
with a strong focus on economic, social and cultural rights for UNCTs in Brazil, Ecuador,
Panama and Uruguay. In Nicaragua, the Human Rights Adviser to the UNCT collaborated with
other United Nations agencies and the Nicaraguan Association of Municipalities to train
government officials and community leaders from 54 municipalities on a rights-based approach
to nutritional and food security issues. The Office also issued a joint statement with the World
Food Programme to welcome the Nepal Supreme Court’s decision on the right to food.
49. The OHCHR Regional Office in Bangkok co-organized with the International Labour
Organization (ILO) on 23-24 June 2008 a Sub-Regional Meeting on Disability Legislation:
Decent Work for Persons with Disabilities in Asia. The purpose of the meeting was to examine
the main legal issues in disability discrimination law within the framework of the Convention,
with particular emphasis on the right to work and decent work. Representatives from eight
countries, together with lawyers, judges, representatives of disabled persons’ organizations and
workers’ and employers’ associations, attended the event.
50. OHCHR in Cambodia collaborated with UN-Habitat to develop a UNCT position on
forced evictions and involuntary resettlement based on Cambodian law and international
standards related to the right to adequate housing and forced evictions. OHCHR also
collaborated with United Nations agencies in Cambodia to conduct assessments of relocation
sites and evaluate, in coordination with UNAIDS, the special needs of families living with
HIV/AIDS. In Kyrgyzstan, OHCHR mobilized support within the UNCT to assist homeless
persons during the winter period. The United Nations Subregional Centre for Human Rights and
Democracy in Central Africa carried out a field mission with UNICEF and ILO to the east of
Cameroon with a focus on the rights to education and health of indigenous children.
51. During the year, OHCHR continued to collaborate with national human rights institutions
(NHRIs). On 16 April 2008, OHCHR organized a parallel event on the role of NHRIs in poverty
reduction, on the sidelines of the 20th Annual Meeting of the International Coordinating
Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (ICC).
This event stimulated discussion around NHRI involvement in national development processes,
with a particular focus on poverty reduction strategies as well as the challenges and opportunities
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