High Commissioner stresses OHCHR's independence vis-a-vis Council in address to GA's Third Committee

On October 20 2010, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms Navanethem Pillay, addressed the Third Committee for the third time since her appointment. Unsurprisingly, during the interactive dialogue, some States referred to the presidential statement on the relationship between the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Council, which was adopted at the Council’s fifteenth session.(1) The High Commissioner steadfastly maintained that the statement, which relates to the presentation of the human rights strategic framework (Programme 19) to the Council, fully supports General Assembly Resolution 48/141 and does not compromise her Office’s independence. While the majority of States reiterated their support for the Office’s independence (Chile, Norway, UK and the EU), China reminded the High Commissioner that her strategic plan must now be submitted to the Council before the UN’s Committee for Programme and Coordination (CPC), and pressed the High Commissioner on how best to implement the presidental statement. Although recognizing that genuine constructive consultation and cooperation should be the hallmark of her Office’s relationship with the Council, Ms Pillay underscored that the presidential statement does not provide for formal oversight, which would threaten the role of her Office. She also pointedly noted that her reporting obligations are to the General Assembly and the Secretary General, not the Council.

The High Commissioner fielded further questions on the need for intergovernmental approval for UN Secretariat actions. Russia asked whether the Council should draw up standards for establishing new field offices, and both Russia and Cuba argued that the General Assembly had not approved the mandate for the UN Development Group’s (UNDG) new Human Rights Mechanism (HRM), which was recently established. However, most States expressed support for the impactful and important work of the field offices (Algeria, Australia, Chile, EU, Norway, UK, US) and the UN’s efforts to mainstream human rights into development (Costa Rica, EU, Switzerland). In responding to questions on the HRM, the High Commissioner reiterated remarks from her opening statement that it would help ensure cross-system coordination and coherence on human rights matters. She noted that the UN was embarking on a new phase following the ‘Action 2 initiative’, and that the mechanism would provide practical support for Resident Coordinators, UN country teams and regional UNDG teams. Responding to Russia’s implication that she was overreaching her authority in establishing field presences, she reminded the Third Committee that field offices were established with the consent of the host country.

In her opening statement before the question and answer period, the High Commissioner detailed the impact of the OHCHR’s work in six key areas, which correspond to the strategic priorities set out in the 2010-2011 biennium. On the issue of poverty, she stressed the importance of implementing the MDG Summit Outcome Document according to human rights standards, (2) and highlighted her Office's General Assembly side event on this issue. (3) Regarding discrimination, she expressed concern about the plight of migrants, and noted a joint statement on the human rights of irregular migrants recently issued by the Global Migration Group, which OHCHR chairs.(4)

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