Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) encourages the international community and its member states to uphold universally agreed human rights standards. OHCHR alerts governments and the world community to the daily reality that these standards are too often ignored or unfulfilled and to be the voice for the victims of human rights violations everywhere. OHCHR presses the international community to take the steps that can prevent violations, including support for the right to development.

OHCHR engages in a dialogue with the government on human rights with the aim of strengthening national capacity to protect human rights. It provides advisory services and technical assistance when requested.

OHCHR helps other parts of the United Nations to integrate human rights into their own work. OHCHR also works closely with non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions.

For OHCHR Global Homepage, click here.

Regional Representative

Regional Representatives have been appointed to enable OHCHR to adopt a strategic approach to work at the country and regional level and to assist countries that have no human rights field presence. Representatives work closely with governments, UN country teams, international and regional organizations, national human rights institutions, non-governmental organizations and academic institutions.

The office of the Regional Representative for Asia-Pacific was established in January 2002. It is hosted by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia-Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok, to which it also provides human rights advice. The principal aim of this regional presence is to integrate human rights into United Nations programmes and build national human rights protection systems. Moreover, it aims to bring OHCHR closer to governments, United Nations country teams, development cooperation agencies, national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations in the region.

To find out more about the work of OHCHR in South-East Asia, click here.