Examples:

DOCUMENTS

International

NATIONAL DOCUMENT

Politics. Even if everyone is of the same race and tribal group, if you are associated with the group who is out of power, you can be held down by the party in power. It is a way of preserving their position

violations of human rights 

Sex. Women are denied full access to many societies around the world. I can’t think of one example where men are proscribed.

Religion. Being a member of a religious minority results in many rights violations.

Race. Typically the racial minority is unable to participate fully in a society. However there have been times when the racial minority held power over the majority. 

Ethnicity. There are many tribal societies where one group is excluded.

Institutions for HUMAN rights

The Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia is an independent institution, which contributes to the protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Slovenia through the investigation of the complaints, submission of opinions and recommendations to any authority, addressing pressing human rights issues, conducting on-sight inspections, conducting human rights education, research, through cooperation with civil society as well as through own initiatives and statements on legislative proposals.

The maintenance of international peace and security is one of the purposes of the United Nations Charter. Violence and conflict undermine sustainable development. Human rights violations are at the root causes of conflict and insecurity which, in turn, invariably result in further violations of human rights. As such, action to protect and promote human rights has inherent preventive power while rights-based approaches to peace and security bring this power to efforts for sustainable peace. The human rights normative framework also provides a sound basis for addressing issues of serious concern within or between countries that, if left unaddressed, may lead to conflict. Human rights information and analysis is a tool for early warning and early targeted action that has not yet been used to its full potential.

Preventing violations and strengthening protection of human rights, including in situations of conflict and insecurity

Parties to conflict and actors involved in peace operations increasingly comply with international human rights and humanitarian law and provide greater protection to civilians.

We will monitor human rights violations committed during armed conflicts, including civilian casualties and incidents of sexual and gender-based violence; bring facts and evidence to the parties’ and public attention, and advocate for changes in policy, practice and conduct; provide training and technical advice to integrate international human rights and humanitarian law in military and peace operations; strategically engage with parties to conflicts to reduce human rights violations and integrate human rights in political decision making and peace agreements; facilitate the participation of diverse groups, including women, in peace negotiations; and cooperate closely with regional and UN peace missions to ensure integration of human rights.

Efforts to counter terrorism and prevent violent extremism comply with international law.

We will gather evidence and undertake further research, monitoring and reporting to support our strategic advocacy on the role of human rights violations in driving violent extremism and terrorism, and the role of human rights protection in prevention. We will build the capacity and commitment of State authorities and other actors to respect international law in their efforts to combat terrorism and prevent violent extremism, and ensure accountability and respect for victims’ rights

Strategies to prevent and respond to conflict consistently integrate human rights protection.

We will actively engage with UN entities, regional bodies, and individual Member States to show that protection and promotion of human rights contribute to more effective conflict prevention, conflict management, and post-conflict peace. To this end, we will monitor the implementation of relevant strategies, provide advice on what is needed to ensure effective human rights protection; and provide training, operational guidance and technical advice on how to integrate human rights operationally in prevention and peacebuilding activities.

Human rights information and analyses are integrated in early warning and analysis systems and influence international and national policy-making, strategies and operations to prevent, mitigate or respond to emerging crises, including humanitarian crises and conflict

We will further develop information management practices and systems in order to provide real time early warning analysis that can inform UN human rights prevention, early warning, and intervention strategies. This capacity will strengthen our ability to identify potential crises and support responses. The development and launch of the ‘Rights View’ platform will provide access to OHCHR information and other credible human rights sources and media. In addition, we will progressively deploy emergency response staff to regional offices. Our work in this area will be an integral element of United Nations action on the ground, leveraging the Platform for Prevention, the Human Rights Up Front Action Plan, the New Way of Working, and initiatives of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee.

Through four major ‘Shifts’ to our approach, we will better adapt our work to the changing external context.

These shifts will help us focus on key threats to rights and key opportunities for leveraging support to better protect and promote rights. The shifts we will make across our six pillars are to:

i. Support prevention of conflict, violence and insecurity.

ii. Protect and expand civic space.

iii. Support and further develop the global constituency for human rights.

iv. Deliver human rights in the context of emerging global concerns (‘frontier issues’).

These ‘Shifts’ will further unify our efforts as one Office; driving coherence, scale and measurable human rights impact in an uncertain world.

Our work will be ‘people-centred’. Across everything we do, including when we focus on the human rights of other population groups, we will shine a ‘spotlight’ on the human rights of women, young peopleand persons with disabilities. In support of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda’s human rights-based commitment to ‘leave no one behind’, we will highlight the human rights concerns of women, young people and persons with disabilities, including as defenders of rights.

Some of the core activities undertaken by the human rights section include:

Conducting human rights monitoring, investigations and analysis;

Issuing public reports on human rights issues of special concern;

Preventing human rights violations, including through mission-wide early warning mechanisms.

What can we do to promote human rights?