37/79 Report of the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights

GE.18-01439(E)



Human Rights Council Thirty-seventh session

26 February–23 March 2018

Agenda item 10

Technical assistance and capacity-building

Report of the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights*

Summary

The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 18/18,

in which the Council invited the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations

Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights to present a

comprehensive report on the Board’s work on an annual basis, starting from the twentieth

session of the Council. Pursuant to Council resolution 33/28, the present report is submitted

to the Council at its thirty-seventh session, in March 2018, instead of at its June session, as

originally requested by the Council in resolution 18/18. It provides an update on the work

of the Board of Trustees of the Fund since the previous report of the Chair of the Board

(A/HRC/34/74).

* The annexes to the present report are circulated as received.

United Nations A/HRC/37/79

Contents

Page

I. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 3

A. Background ........................................................................................................................... 3

B. Mandate ................................................................................................................................ 3

II. Activities of the Voluntary Fund and the Board of Trustees ......................................................... 4

A. Forty-fourth session (Geneva) .............................................................................................. 5

B. Forty-fifth session (Middle East and North Africa Region) ................................................ 6

III. Technical cooperation ................................................................................................................... 10

A. Technical cooperation and the priority areas of work of the Office of the United Nations

High Commissioner for Human Rights ................................................................................ 10

B. Synergy and partnerships with other United Nations entities ............................................... 11

C. Measuring the results of technical cooperation and the response of the Office of

the High Commissioner ........................................................................................................ 12

D. Main findings, challenges and recommendations ................................................................. 12

IV. Status of funding and donors ......................................................................................................... 13

Annexes

I. Contributions to the Voluntary Fund and expenditure trends (2008–2017) .................................. 14

II. Voluntary Fund cost plan and expenditure (2017) ........................................................................ 15

III. Financial status of the Voluntary Fund (2017) .............................................................................. 16

IV. Donors and contributors (2017) .................................................................................................... 17

I. Introduction

A. Background

1. The United Nations Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in the Field of

Human Rights, established by the Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 1987/38,

receives voluntary contributions from Governments, organizations and individuals. The

objective of the Fund is to provide financial support for technical cooperation aimed at

building and strengthening national and regional institutions, legal frameworks and

infrastructures that will have a positive long-term impact on the implementation of

international human rights standards.

2. The Board of Trustees has been operational since 1993 and its members are

appointed by the Secretary-General for a three-year renewable term. The mandate of the

Board is to assist the Secretary-General in streamlining and rationalizing the working

methods and procedures of the technical cooperation programme. It meets twice a year and

reports on its work to the Secretary-General and the Human Rights Council. Its current

members are Mariclaire Acosta Urquidi (Mexico), Morten Kjaerum (Denmark), Lin Lim

(Malaysia), Esi Sutherland-Addy (Ghana) and Valeriya Lutkovska (Ukraine). Mr. Kjaerum

and Ms. Lutkovska were nominated by the Secretary-General to replace the seats vacated in

2017 by Ilze Brands Kehris (Latvia) and Christopher Sidoti (Australia), respectively. At its

forty-fourth session, the Board elected Mariclaire Acosta Urquidi as Chair from 30 June

2017 to 30 June 2018.

B. Mandate

3. The refocused approach, agreed upon by the Board of Trustees and presented in

2011 to Member States in the annual report of the Secretary-General to the Human Rights

Council (A/HRC/16/66) continues to be appreciated by the Office of the United Nations

High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and its partners. During the period under

review, the Board continued to provide advice on policy and strategic orientation of the

technical cooperation components of OHCHR. The capacity of the Board to provide

strategic advice in the area of technical cooperation has substantially increased and

strengthened through its visits to field presences and discussions with all partners on the

ground. Over the last five years the Board has visited at least one field presence in every

region of the world.

4. As members also of the Board of Trustees of the Voluntary Fund for Financial and

Technical Assistance in the Implementation of the Universal Periodic Review, the Board

continued to provide OHCHR with policy guidance in order to maximize the effectiveness

of technical assistance and financial support for States in implementing recommendations

of the universal periodic review and other international mechanisms at the State level. The

Board discussed such strategic guidance at its seventh regular session in Geneva in March

2017 and at its 8th field meeting in Beirut in October 2017. Those discussions focused on

strengthening the support of the Fund for national mechanisms for reporting and follow up;

comprehensive national human rights action plans and recommendations for implementing

such plans (linked to the Universal Human Rights Index, which provides easy access to

country-specific human rights information emanating from international human rights

mechanisms in the United Nations system, including the treaty bodies, the special

procedures and the universal periodic review); integration of the outcomes of the universal

periodic review into United Nations planning documents at the national level (United

Nations Development Assistance Frameworks and other country-level plans); and key

thematic human rights issues identified in recommendations. In that regard, the Board has

also encouraged OHCHR to develop simplified and streamlined internal guidelines on how

to use the Fund, which can serve as a key tool for OHCHR field presences to provide more

effective follow-up support to States.

5. Following the advice of the Board within its mandate, the Office continues to

strengthen the strategic use of the resources under the two voluntary funds to maximize

their impact, especially in the areas of capacity-building and advisory services on the

ground. The efforts of the Office to enhance the complementarities of the voluntary funds

in support of fuller and more effective integration of accepted recommendations as an

integral part of United Nations programme tools on the ground are very much encouraged

by the Board and welcomed by all Resident Coordinators with whom the Board has met

during its visits to the field. The Board has observed how United Nations presences in

country are increasingly engaged through collaborative arrangements in supporting State

efforts to follow up on recommendations from the international human rights mechanisms.

The Board is of the view that the technical support provided over the last five years in

establishing e-tools for systematizing the recommendations and follow-up actions are

crucial to ensuring coherent and effective in-country support for implementation of those

recommendations. The tools are also proving useful for incorporating the recommendations

when developing common country assessments and subsequent United Nations

Development Assistance Frameworks.

6. Throughout 2017, the Board had a number of opportunities to engage with the

Office and its partners on the relevance of the technical cooperation programmes in the

context of the preparations of the new programming cycle for the period 2018–2021.

During its two annual sessions, both in Geneva and in the places where the Office has a

presence, OHCHR regional consultations and through written submissions, the members of

the Board have contributed to the development of the next four-year programme for

OHCHR. The Board shared with the Office the lessons learned and experiences gathered

over the last four years on the situation on the ground and its findings on the relevance of

the technical cooperation programmes, the efficiency and effectiveness of programme

delivery and the impact and sustainability of the results achieved. The Board understands

that the inputs it provided through this process have been received as an invaluable

contribution to better understanding the type of technical cooperation OHCHR is best

placed to offer. From the information shared throughout this programming process the

Board has also been able to observe how its contributions have been taken into account. In

line with its mandate, in which the Board is requested to promote and solicit contributions

and pledges to the voluntary funds, a number of outreach events have been organized

jointly during the period under review by the OHCHR External Outreach Service and the

Board to share experiences and views from the Board on the programmes of the Office on

the ground, including sharing good practices and lessons learned in the area of technical

cooperation. The Board received positive feedback following the organization of those

events, which are facilitating better knowledge of the partnerships between the Office and

States and the results therefrom.

7. In its resolution 36/28, the Human Rights Council noted with appreciation the

contribution of the Board, in particular to the components of good technical cooperation

programmes. The Board very much welcomes this acknowledgement and the discussions

with the Board during the sessions of the Human Rights Council, which continue to

advance a wider understanding of the results achieved, with the support of the Office, in

partnerships with State institutions and civil society on the ground. In the resolution, the

Chair of the Board was invited to present the annual report on the work of the Board to the

Council at its thirty-seventh session in March 2018, rather than at its June session, as

originally requested by the Council in its resolution 18/18. That change, piloted in 2016 and

now confirmed for the coming years, facilitates enhanced coordination of the sessions of

the Board with those of the Council and the alignment of the annual report of the Board

with the fiscal year, so as to provide the most up-to-date information.

II. Activities of the Voluntary Fund and the Board of Trustees

8. The Board of Trustees of the Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in the Field

of Human Rights held its forty-fourth session in Geneva from 21 to 24 March 2017 and its

forty-fifth session in the regional office for the Middle East and North Africa in Beirut from

24 to 27 October 2017, with a smaller number of members visiting the OHCHR Office in

the occupied Palestinian territory from 29 to 31 October 2017. The sessions were chaired

by Mariclaire Acosta Urquidi.

A. Forty-fourth session (Geneva)

9. The Board took the opportunity of its meeting in Geneva, coinciding with the thirty-

fourth session of the Human Rights Council, to receive an update and follow up on the

various discussions regarding the item on technical cooperation in the Human Rights

Council. It also used the session to contribute to the preparation of the new OHCHR

programming cycle for the period 2018–2021 through briefings and sharing a series of

lessons learned that could help strengthen and focus the programmes of the Office on the

ground. The Board held discussions with relevant sections of the Office on the importance

of continuing to strengthen thematic capacities at the regional level and the

complementarities of the various ongoing efforts and programmes. Discussions were also

held on supporting enhanced capacities on the ground for reporting and follow-up to the

work of the international human rights mechanisms, in particular the international human

rights treaty monitoring bodies. Consistent with its regular methods of work, the Board

dedicated one day of the session to taking stock on the implementation of the programmes

supported by the Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation; developing its future

programme of work; and discussing its responsibilities under the Voluntary Fund for

Financial and Technical Assistance in the Implementation of the Universal Periodic

Review. During the meeting, Mariclaire Acosta Urquidi formally assumed her role as

elected Chair, to succeed Christopher Sidoti.

10. Representatives of OHCHR services in charge of overall planning and programming

guidance, briefed the Board on the process of designing the new strategic direction of the

Office for the period 2018–2021. The Board noted with appreciation the efforts by the

Office to reach out to and involve a large range and number of stakeholders through the

preparatory process, gathering the widest possible views and contributions to analyse

lessons learned from the past while scanning the future, the trends and developments

requiring particular focus and attention by the Office.

11. The Board had the opportunity to provide the Office with views regarding the

challenges ahead based on the individual human rights expertise of its members and the

views expressed by stakeholders during its sessions in the field. In particular the Board

stressed the ongoing worldwide challenges threatening the human rights gains of the last 70

years and the urgent need to strengthen the worldwide constituency for the promotion and

protection of human rights for all. The difficulties being faced by civil society organizations

and, in particular, the closing of the civic space in numerous countries and the attacks on

human rights defenders, as well as the human rights challenges being faced by people on

the move around the world, were some of the elements the Board stressed as requiring

particular attention by OHCHR. The combat against racism and xenophobia; the access to

and enjoyment of development and the fight against inequality; the situations of conflict

and insecurity and the need to strengthen the mechanisms for early warning; and the

importance of the prevalence of the rule of law and accountability remain in the view of the

Board critical areas of work for the Office in the years to come. Through its visits on the

ground, the Board has had the opportunity to observe the added value that the Office has

brought to all those fields and its comparative and collaborative advantages. The Board is

of the view that when the Office is provided with the right resources and access, the support

provided to State efforts in the field of human rights makes a real difference to the daily

lives of millions of people around the world.

12. One of the items of interest for the Board over the last four years has been the

experiences and lessons learned in the area of providing support through technical

cooperation for the establishment of robust national protection systems, including through

national human rights institutions. For example, the Board noted the results achieved

through the efforts of the Office to support and promote the establishment of national

human rights institutions and recommended that the Office continue to give priority in the

new programming cycle to strengthening the operational capacities of those institutions, to

ensure that they operate in line with the principles relating to the status of national

institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (Paris Principles) and to

respond adequately to the protection components of their mandates.

13. The support of OHCHR on the ground through technical cooperation for the

engagement and follow-up of the work of the international human rights mechanisms,

including the treaty bodies, special procedures and the universal periodic review, was also

an area of focus during the session. The Board noted the positive impact of the placement

of additional Human Rights Officers under the treaty body capacity-building programme, in

10 OHCHR regional offices to support States, upon their request, in fulfilling their treaty

reporting obligations pursuant to General Assembly resolution 68/268. That dedicated

capacity has enhanced the overall capacity on the ground of OHCHR to follow up and

sustain the necessary support to States in their engagement with the United Nations human

rights mechanisms and in implementing recommendations deriving from them. Technical

assistance provided by the Office through this additional support has resulted in new

ratifications of treaties; the submission of outstanding State party reports and updated

common core documents; improved and more constructive dialogues before treaty bodies;

and an increased interest in a number of countries towards institutionalizing their current

interministerial coordination committees on engaging with the United Nations human rights

mechanisms into a national mechanism for reporting and follow-up. The Board welcomed

the OHCHR practical guide to effective engagement with such mechanisms, published in

2016, and the recently published OHCHR training guide to reporting to the United Nations

treaty bodies.

14. The Board was briefed by the secretariat on the status of implementation of the

workplan and cost plan for the Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation and reviewed in

detail the programmes covered by the Voluntary Fund. It endorsed the status of

implementation and the workplan for 2017.

B. Forty-fifth session (Middle East and North Africa Region)

15. In accordance with its practice of holding one of its two meetings each year in a

State where OHCHR has a field presence, the Board held its forty-fifth session in Lebanon.

The main purpose of the visit, as in the case of previous visits to the field, was to gather in

situ observations of the role and added value of OHCHR, this time through a regional

presence, to increase its understanding of the type of technical cooperation that OHCHR

provides and to give relevant guidance. The Board took the opportunity of the visit to the

region to also visit the OHCHR office in the occupied Palestinian territory, one of the

presences the Voluntary Fund had been supporting over the last several years.

16. Holding the session in Beirut, the first in the Middle East and North Africa region,

provided an excellent opportunity to observe first-hand the type of technical cooperation

that OHCHR is best placed to offer in the region, starting with and based upon its

monitoring role. The Board discussed with members of the OHCHR team and local

partners how the physical presence of the Office and its technical expertise and capacity

was used to gather evidence-based information and credible, validated data on the human

rights situation and its challenges, and subsequently design, together with the relevant

partners, appropriate responses and programmes. The Board found the timing of the session

very relevant, as the Office was moving ahead with its new programming cycle.

17. In Beirut, the Board held discussions with staff members of the regional office and

with various national authorities in Lebanon, including the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and

the Human Rights Committee of the Parliament, and with United Nations partners and civil

society organizations. The Board visited the Restart Centre for the rehabilitation of victims

of violence and torture in Beirut, which has been a recipient of financial support from the

Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, and discussed the various types of cooperation in

which the organization is involved, in addition to the financial support from OHCHR. It

also visited the Arab NGO Network for Development and met with representatives of the

United Nations and a wide range of civil society organizations working regionally on

human rights and development matters. The discussions focused on the OHCHR

programme in the region, its relevance and its impact.

18. Its physical presence in the region, despite its limited resources, has enabled

OHCHR to enhance the value of its unique mandate and to engage actively with key

partners in particular, but not exclusively, in the host country. The added value is

particularly evident, for example, in the support the Office has been providing in the host

country and others in the region on the development of the statutory framework for the

establishment of a national human rights institution, commenting on legislation and

supporting through technical cooperation the strengthening of complaints and investigative

mechanisms. The Board had the opportunity to discuss with the relevant members of the

parliament the support provided in this process, which was reported as extremely valuable.

Examples of ongoing technical advice on the development of legislation were provided,

including steps to follow up on the ratification by Lebanon of the Convention against

Torture, and of its Optional Protocol, the establishment of the national preventive

mechanism and the fight against domestic violence. The Board also appreciated the results

achieved through the treaty body capacity-building programme, which has helped to

consolidate and give an important support to the efforts by the host country and several

other countries in the region to meet pending reporting obligations. The situation of the

most recent reception of a large number of refugees, in particular from the Syrian Arab

Republic, and the challenges the country faces, given its generosity to refugees, was also a

key focus of discussions during the meetings with authorities, the United Nations and civil

society organizations. During meetings with staff of the regional office, the Board also

learned about the current technical assistance programme with Saudi Arabia.

19. The regional office is one of the OHCHR offices that is supported by a Regional

Gender Adviser. The Board always pays particular attention to the efforts made on gender

integration and women’s rights through technical cooperation by the Office. It was pleased

to note that the presence of the Adviser has substantially increased the capacity and work of

the regional office in gender and women’s rights issues in the region and in accordance

with the mandate and vision of OHCHR. The Board emphasized how critical that type of

expertise is to working with partners and building new partnerships within the United

Nations country teams and the United Nations regional entities to support efforts aimed at

advancing women’s rights. The Adviser liaises with partners at the national level, including

national human rights institutions, women’s mechanisms and civil society actors. The

Board learnt about the ongoing capacity-building programmes to enhance women’s rights,

national mechanisms and institutions in the Middle East and North Africa region. The

Board also discussed how the progressive normative guidance by human rights mechanisms

in the area of women’s rights, in particular from the Committee on the Elimination of

Discrimination against Women and the work of the Adviser, are advancing women’s rights

in the region, including facilitating sessions on Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on

women and peace and security, and examining the efforts of countries to combat violence

against women, advancing the agenda of resolution 1325 (2000). The Board was

particularly pleased with the ongoing training programmes on community mobilization for

women human rights defenders from across the region; the human rights capacity-building

activities for judges and lawyers, in particular on issues such as judicial gender stereotyping

and women’s access to justice; and the support provided to countries in the region to be up

to date with the reporting obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms

of Discrimination against Women. The overall impression gained by the Board is that the

work on gender mainstreaming has moved its focus from the quantity of activities

undertaken to the quality of the support and cooperation provided.

20. In response to the crisis in the Syrian Arab Republic, OHCHR has established a

team, which functions as a virtual country office, given the present lack of access, and

operates from Gaziantep, Turkey, Amman, Geneva and Beirut. The Beirut component, co-

located with the OHCHR regional office, provided the Board with a briefing during the

visit and they had the opportunity to discuss various aspects of the programme. The work of

OHCHR on the Syrian Arab Republic involves monitoring and reporting, providing human

rights and legal advice to partners and capacity-building and advocacy. The Beirut-based

team monitors, analyses and reports on the human rights situation in the Syrian Arab

Republic through contributions to the monthly reports of the Secretary-General to the

Security Council pursuant to Security Council resolutions 2139 (2014), 2165 (2014), 2191

(2014) and 2258 (2015), and also produces monthly early-warning reports. The Board

observed how the work of the monitoring team for the Syrian Arab Republic continues to

be a key source for OHCHR data collection, early warning and advocacy and also for

capacity-building activities with partners on a number of specific thematic issues, including

human rights documentation methodology, sexual and gender-based violence, transitional

justice, future legal reform and general strengthening of the human rights expertise of

Syrian human rights civil society. The Board was very impressed by the commitment and

work of the team in the challenging circumstances of not having access to the country and

undertaking remote monitoring. For the Board, the output of the team provides another

important example of the quality work that OHCHR delivers and how it is being used to

guide the process of many other key actors. For the Board, that is the type of technical

cooperation the Office is best placed to provide.

21. The Board met with the Resident Coordinator in Lebanon and with many

representatives of the United Nations in the region, which is one of the largest and most

diverse United Nations presences in the world in terms of the number of agencies and

programmes. The Board always takes such opportunities with the relevant agencies and

programmes to gather information on synergies and cooperation on the ground supporting

national efforts in any critical area with relevance for the promotion and protection of all

economic, civil, cultural, political and social rights. Several United Nations agencies and

programmes, as has been the case in other regions, stressed how useful they found the

information provided by the Office and its advice concerning international human rights

standards, which offer key guidance to their programmes to support the efforts of States to

fulfil their international human rights obligations. The Board was particularly interested in

the ongoing work and plans in the context of the agenda on prevention; on support for the

2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals; and on the

promotion of gender equality and women’s rights. The impact of the conflicts in the region,

and the question of inequalities and the implications for the achievement of all the

Sustainable Development Goals made clear the important role of OHCHR and the

expectations regarding the provision of substantive guidance and advisory services.

22. The Board was informed by various partners on the ground that the OHCHR

regional office is seen as the expert point of reference. The Board hopes that strengthening

the OHCHR regional presence will result in an increase in thematic capacity, particularly at

this critical juncture, when peace and security, violent extremism and the need to strengthen

the rule of law and to eliminate inequalities play such a critical role in the stability and

prosperity in the region and beyond. The Middle East and North Africa Region is one of the

regions not benefiting from the presence of human rights advisers in the United Nations

setting. In all the other regions the Board has visited, human rights advisers have proved

very useful in supporting United Nations efforts to mainstream human rights across the

programmes on the ground and support States with their human rights commitments,

pledges and obligations, in particular where OHCHR does not have a fully-fledged

presence.

23. During the visit to the regional office and in discussions with partners, the Board

was able to observe in practice the complementarities and relevance of its mandate relating

to both the Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation and the Voluntary Fund for Financial

and Technical Assistance in the Implementation of the Universal Periodic Review. There

are clear expectations that OHCHR will continue to provide sound advice on the

engagement with and follow-up to the outcomes from the universal periodic review, not

only from national partners across the region but also from the United Nations. The

importance of enhancing the linkages between these outcomes, recommendations and

reviews and the efforts on the ground to combat inequality and discrimination were

particularly stressed. Throughout the region, inequality requires effective responses in

terms of economic and social human rights, as noted in several of the meetings the Board

held. However the effects of exclusion and mistrust will clearly continue having a negative

impact on the progress towards peace and on durable solutions for the millions of refugees

and displaced persons across the region.

24. In the view of the Board, the next programming cycle provides an excellent

opportunity to expand the work of the Office in the region, strengthening its staff capacity

on the ground and expanding its presence at the national level. The Board would like to

encourage Member States to boost their dialogue with the Office, with the aim of

expanding its presence and capacity for support across the region.

25. In the occupied Palestinian territory, the support received and the value of the work

of the Office was emphasized by all counterparts, including the authorities, civil society and

members of the United Nations and the international community with whom the Board met.

The visit to the OHCHR office in the occupied Palestinian territory once again

demonstrated that, when it is given the opportunity to use the full mandate of the High

Commissioner in a strategic manner to support human rights efforts in a country, the results

are tangible and sustainable, and the Office is accepted as a key, reliable partner, despite

critical complexities.

26. In Ramallah, the Board delegation met with staff of the OHCHR office, the Ministry

of Foreign Affairs, the Independent Commission for Human Rights, civil society

organizations, United Nations programmes and agencies and representatives of the

international community supporting development programmes on the ground. The Board

members also visited Gaza, where they met with staff of the OHCHR office, civil society

and United Nations agencies and programmes.

27. The Board was particularly impressed by the work of OHCHR in such a complex

political context and by its strategic direction, despite the critical operational challenges on

the ground. The discussions with all partners highlighted how closely the Office works with

all of them and how the monitoring reports inform all the programmes and contribute

positively to the very tangible results achieved in the development of the national protection

framework, engagement with the human rights mechanisms and legal and policy reforms

promoting human rights. For example, the close monitoring of the situation of human rights

defenders and of persons in detention has enabled the Office to get an accurate idea of the

key challenges that need to be addressed and of the relevant institutions to work with on the

design and implementation of appropriate programmes.

28. The Office has managed very effectively to maintain its operations and to further

develop the programmes while holding always to the highest standards of independence

and in full respect of the mandate of the High Commissioner. The Board observed, as was

also the case in Ukraine, how skilfully the staff of the Office handle the challenges they

face, ensuring respect for international standards as the key basis for all its programmes.

The cooperation, trust and credibility that the Office has managed to build over the more

than 20 years it has been present, through numerous crisis situations and difficult times is,

in the view of the Board, the result of a consistent programme in full conformity with

international standards and of a constructive and proactive engagement with the rights of

the people at the centre of all the strategies. As has been observed in the case of previous

visits of the Board, such as its most recent visit to the OHCHR office in Guatemala, in the

occupied Palestinian territory, the Office plays an important convening role and provides a

trusted space for dialogue, by also creating channels of participation, in particular for

human rights defenders and victims. That was highlighted by human rights defenders with

whom the Board met in Gaza.

29. One of the greatest achievements of the Office in the occupied Palestinian territory

has been the strategic use of its monitoring mandate to gather valuable and credible data

and develop specific technical cooperation programmes aimed at the development of the

national protection system. All the actors with whom the Board met stressed the neutrality

of the Office as a key component of the trust it has nurtured and which is demonstrated in

its recommendations to all sectors. The Board noted that capacity-building activities have

increased, especially since the ratification in 2014 by the State of Palestine of seven of the

core human rights treaties. It also appreciated the fact that during its visit a number of

concrete actions for capacity-building to meet reporting obligations were discussed and

finalized. The sequence of activities, involving ratification, legislative development and law

reform in line with international standards and policymaking informs the entire programme.

For example, the Office has been providing support on the finalization of reports to the

Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women and the

Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and its role in

ensuring that the situation in Gaza was not overlooked in both reports was highly

appreciated by all the parties with whom the Board met. The Board was also impressed

with the work and guiding role of the Office through the United Nations humanitarian

protection cluster, which it leads and which is unique among all the presences the Board

has visited. The Board felt that such examples could contribute to the methodologies of

mainstreaming human rights into humanitarian work in difficult situations and also that the

potential of that function could be developed further in many other situations in other

regions. The Board was also concerned about the environmental challenges in the region,

which have crucial human rights implications, and very much hopes that the entire United

Nations team pays attention to them through their cooperation programmes.

30. The Board is struck by the operational challenges that the Office faces and by the

challenges that lie ahead, despite the important achievements of recent years. To sustain

and build on the progress made so far requires not only support from headquarters but also

from the entire United Nations system. The Board shares the concerns expressed by all the

actors with whom it met regarding the situation in Gaza, where sustainable progress on

human rights is undermined by the Israeli blockade (including restrictions on the

movements of United Nations staff members and those of civil society organizations), by

the need for reconciliation between Palestinian factions and by the overall worsening

humanitarian situation.

III. Technical cooperation

A. Technical cooperation and the priority areas of work of the Office of

the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

31. Since 2012, the Board has brought to the attention of the Human Rights Council a

number of components for effective technical cooperation by OHCHR that have become

evident in its experience of overseeing the management of the Voluntary Fund. The Board

has already written in previous reports on the importance of (a) anchoring technical

cooperation to the universality and indivisibility of all human rights, including both

protection and promotion aspects; (b) building and strengthening national frameworks and

institutions in the field of human rights through technical cooperation and advisory

services; (c) partnerships with United Nations entities on the ground; (d) technical

cooperation programmes ensuring the broadest possible participation of all elements of

national societies; (e) effective technical cooperation reflecting national development

objectives; and (f) technical cooperation programmes to support the implementation of

recommendations by the human rights mechanisms and follow-up thereon.

32. The acknowledgement of the Human Rights Council of the usefulness of the views

and guidance provided by the Board through the elaboration of those components is very

much welcomed and seen by all Board members as an encouragement to continue

elaborating on the components through its annual updates to the Human Rights Council. In

the present report, the Board elaborates on its view that, to be effective, technical

cooperation in the field of human rights should be anchored in and build on the

programmatic priorities and focus of the work of OHCHR through its programmatic cycle,

with the aim of optimizing the effective use of all types of resources available.

33. That component of technical cooperation is necessary to ensure the most effective

use of the expertise and financial resources available. The level of resources, both of

personnel and funding, available for technical cooperation in the field of human rights is

woefully inadequate relative to the needs of people and the demands of States. It is

imperative, therefore, that the resources that are available are used to best effect. That

requires good analysis of needs, good strategizing of objectives and priorities and good

coordination of delivery of technical assistance. The OHCHR multi-year strategic

programming process is the most comprehensive regular process for identifying human

rights strategies and priorities for human rights technical cooperation. It is based on solid

data and evidence and is undertaken through a broad consultative process. For those

reasons it provides the best platform on which to plan and undertake other forms of

technical cooperation for human rights. Through its field sessions, the Board has observed

how coordination provides enhanced and more robust results and has been able to obtain

concrete examples in numerous areas, for example regarding efforts to enact or amend

legislation in line with international human rights standards; regarding the challenges to

civic space and the work of human rights defenders; on the efforts to combat violence

against women and in particular gender-based violence, just to mention a few. The Board

certainly considers it so in its own planning. It encourages others contributing directly or

indirectly to technical cooperation in the field of human rights to take into account the

OHCHR programme plans in determining their own strategies, priorities and programmes.

The Board also encourages the Office to continue its programme planning through

evidence-based analysis and broad consultation to ensure that its programmatic priorities

and work match human rights realities. Following its visits to the field and its findings, it

also considers that there is a great opportunity to enhance communication of the important

results being achieved on the ground, including sharing experiences across regions. The

Board has observed over the last five years how the Office has increased its investments in

this critical area. The new programing cycle offers an important opportunity to continue

strengthening both advice in the area of communications from headquarters and the expert

communications capacity in the field presences, in particular in the regional offices.

34. The Board has been closely following, analysing and participating in various ways

in the current OHCHR programming process, which will design its future direction for the

period 2018–2021. The Board has particularly appreciated the renewed efforts made by the

Office to reach out and obtain the maximum possible contributions from the most varied

possible constituencies, including States, national, regional and international institutions

and bodies, civil society organizations and experts. The members of the Board have

provided their views on the achievements made over the last four years; the human rights

challenges ahead, the comparative and collaborative advantages of the Office and the

critical areas requiring particular attention and investment.

B. Synergy and partnerships with other United Nations entities

35. During its visits to OHCHR field presences during the period under review, the

Board continued to pay attention to the synergy and partnerships among United Nations

agencies and programmes in the area of technical cooperation in the field of human rights.

Through discussions with agencies and programmes present at regional and national levels

and Resident Coordinators, the Board has had the opportunity to understand how the United

Nations system-wide commitment to human rights has been evolving and how it has been

prioritizing support for the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda

and the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals.

36. The Board is of the view that the third cycle of the universal periodic review, which

began in May 2017, has created a new momentum for constructive and cooperative

engagement on the implementation of recommendations by human rights mechanisms,

including those emanating from the universal periodic review, and in the light of renewed

efforts at the national and regional levels to advance the 2030 Sustainable Development

Agenda. As emphasized by the Secretary-General in his reports to the General Assembly

(see A/72/1, para. 98, and A/72/351), that engagement is based on increased support to

Member States, stronger collaboration with United Nations country teams, better alignment

of human rights and development efforts at the national level and the involvement of key

stakeholders, such as civil society, national human rights institutions, parliaments, United

Nations agencies at the national level, the donor community and regional human rights

organizations. In 2017, that focus was strengthened through the activities of the Voluntary

Fund for Financial and Technical Assistance in the Implementation of the Universal

Periodic Review. The Fund provided financial and technical assistance for activities in

Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Botswana, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican

Republic, Grenada, Iraq, Lesotho, Paraguay, Republic of Moldova, Saint Kitts and Nevis,

Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago.

37. The Board has been particularly pleased with the recent developments in the

Americas Region, where the OHCHR regional office for South America has worked closely

with the United Nations country teams in a number of countries in the region through the

current programming cycle, enhancing the national capacity on human rights. That was

made possible initially as a combined effort of the OHCHR programme in the region and

additional funding from the Voluntary Fund for Financial and Technical Assistance in the

Implementation of the Universal Periodic Review, which resulted in interesting initiatives,

such as the establishment of online tools to follow up on international human rights

recommendations and national human rights action plans. The increased capacity for

human rights activities by United Nations personnel on the ground, combined with the

willingness of national partners to receive technical cooperation in this area, has resulted in

consistent cooperation between United Nations country teams and national partners, sharing

good practices and experiences. In view of the results achieved with the support of United

Nations partners, such as the United Nations Development Group and the Development

Operations Coordination Office, OHCHR will be able to maintain and strengthen its

network capacity in the region. The Board is of the view that there are a number of

experiences in that regard that could be replicated and shared in other regions, for example

in Asia and the Pacific.

C. Measuring the results of technical cooperation and the response of the

Office of the High Commissioner

38. The Board continues to benefit from the reports and information provided and

facilitated through the OHCHR performance monitoring system. Through its visits to the

field offices it has been able to see how the system is fully used and how it has increased

the capacity of the Office to accurately monitor the implementations of all its programmes.

The system continues to be a critical tool that provides the Board with the information it

requires to undertake its functions in a timely manner. During the period under review the

existence of the system has demonstrated how particularly critical it is for the new

programming cycle for the period 2018–2021. The upgrades implemented over the past

year provide greater opportunities for disaggregating and collecting data and having access

across all OHCHR offices to share experiences and good practices. The Board has observed

in particular in 2017 how useful the system is for enhancing coordination among all

planning entities. That enhanced capacity is key to strengthening cooperation and

maximizing and optimizing the use of available resources. While the Board has been able to

appreciate some of the important developments brought by the Umoja system, it is still of

the view that additional efforts are needed when rolling out the system in the field to ensure

the least possible disruption to operations.

D. Main findings, challenges and recommendations

39. The year under review has provided a unique opportunity for the Board to maximize

its advice through the programming process of OHCHR for the new programming cycle for

the period 2018–2021. The Board has used all possible opportunities to actively engage

with the technical cooperation components of OHCHR that are relevant to each of its

thematic strategies, give advice on their implementation in the 2014‒2017 programming

cycle, share its views after having visited numerous presences across the regions and

provide insights and suggestions to strengthen future programmes.

40. The Board welcomes the appreciation by the Human Rights Council in 2016 of the

usefulness of its contributions and views. It was particularly pleased to observe a number of

programmes on the ground where OHCHR was identified as a key reliable partner, despite

important financial challenges in providing sustainability, continuity and stability to its

programmes. The Board particularly welcomes efforts to cover an important component of

the capacity of the Office in the occupied Palestinian territory from the regular budget. As

stressed in previous reports, the Board wishes to continue calling on Member States to

support OHCHR offices on the ground through adequate funding to ensure that they are

properly staffed and that the framework of operations fully represents the mandate of the

High Commissioner, which is a recipe for sustainable and tangible results.

41. As indicated in the previous report, the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable

Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, with their robust and explicit human

rights-based approach, requires a new understanding of what constitutes official

development assistance (ODA). Despite the increase in the Development Assistance

Committee coefficient for OHCHR from 64 per cent to 88 per cent in June 2017, the Board

remains persuaded that all contributions to OHCHR in their entirety should be treated as

100 per cent ODA in view of the critical importance that all its work has for sustainable

development and the achievement of the 2030 Agenda.

IV. Status of funding and donors

42. At its meetings in Geneva and Beirut, the Board was updated on the overall financial

status of OHCHR and the financial status of the Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation

in the Field of Human Rights respectively. The Board also discussed and analysed the

status of implementation of the workplan for the Voluntary Fund for 2017 and endorsed it.

An analysis of funding trends between 2008 and 2017 (see annex I) shows the continuing

decrease in voluntary contributions to the Fund, particularly in the past three years, which

continues to have a negative impact on the capacity to respond positively to current needs

and demands on the ground. Throughout its visits on the ground over the last four years, all

partners have raised with the Board the need for increased presences and programmes on

the ground.

43. In 2017, the total expenditure was $12,362,447, substantially less than in previous

years owing to a number of reductions in various programmes. The reductions largely

corresponded to the closing of a number of presences and a reduction in the number of

programmes. By 31 December 2017, the Fund had received a total of $11,002,141

($2,843,455 earmarked for the Voluntary Fund, $1,669,033 to be allocated to technical

cooperation on specific country projects and $6,489,652 allocated to the Fund as

unearmarked funds). The Fund provided resources for technical cooperation programmes

designed to build strong human rights frameworks at the national level in 28 regions,

countries and territories through 14 human rights advisers/human rights mainstreaming

projects (in Chad, Kenya, Madagascar, the Niger, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay,

Philippines, Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, Rwanda, Serbia, Sri Lanka,

Timor-Leste and the South Caucasus region (Georgia)); 10 human rights components of

peace missions (in Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-

Bissau, Haiti, Kosovo, 1 Liberia, Libya, Somalia and the Sudan (Darfur)); and 4

country/stand-alone offices in the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Mauritania, Mexico and

the State of Palestine.

44. Through the Fund, OHCHR has facilitated efforts at the country level to incorporate

international human rights standards into national laws, policies and practices, including

through follow-up to recommendations made by international human rights mechanisms

and the development of online mechanisms to facilitate such follow-up. It has also

contributed to the establishment and strengthening of national structures, institutions and

capacities to ensure adherence to those standards. Activities to strengthen the

administration of justice, including support for increasing access capacities for individuals

and groups facing discrimination and exclusion and increasing the capacity to promote

gender equality and women’s rights and combat inequalities, have also featured

prominently in numerous programmes receiving support from the Voluntary Fund. The

Board has observed how OHCHR has also strengthened its provision of technical advice,

not only for the establishment of national human rights institutions compliant with the Paris

Principles, but also for the strengthening of its capacity to respond and act according to

such principles in a number of countries. United Nations Resident Coordinators and country

teams have continued to see their human rights capacity strengthened by the deployment of

human rights advisers and by the development of a number of human rights mainstreaming

projects. Detailed information on income and expenditure under the Voluntary Fund, its

financial status in 2017 and a list of donors and contributors are annexed to the present

report (see annexes II–IV).

1 All references to Kosovo in the present document should be understood to be in the context of

Security Council resolution 1244 (1999).

45. The Board continues to emphasize the importance of ensuring increased and

sustainable contributions to OHCHR, the Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in the

Field of Human Rights and the Voluntary Fund for Financial and Technical Assistance in

the Implementation of the Universal Periodic Review. The Board has been participating in

the context of its mandate in a number of fundraising efforts by OHCHR in the regions it

has visited and very much hopes that in 2018 the financial capacities of the Office continue

to grow, in order to be able to respond to the current challenges around and across all

regions.

Annex I

Contributions to the Voluntary Fund and expenditure trends (2008–2017)

Annex II

Voluntary Fund cost plan and expenditure (2017)

Annex III

Financial status of the Voluntary Fund (2017)

Annex IV

Donors and contributors (2017)