OHCHR - Middle East Regional Office (2008-2009)

Human rights context

OHCHR implements its programmes in a complex region with a history of tense social, religious and political relationships that have regularly flared into open armed conflict, including internal and international conflicts and military occupations. Despite the formal constitutional and parliamentary structures in place in most countries of the region, the principles and structures of the rule of law, including clear separation of powers, accountability and transparency in governance and, above all, an independent judiciary, remain weak in practice.

Armed conflict, the lack of democratic participation, and patchy social and economic policies have had a direct and deleterious impact on the status of individual and collective human rights, and their enjoyment in the region remains tenuous at best. While civil society advocacy organizations are strong in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lebanon, and Jordan, and are growing in Iraq, Syria and several countries in the Gulf, they often come under threat of arrest and harassment in violation of their rights to free expression, association and assembly. They are also in need of support and strengthened capacity to fully and effectively achieve their objectives. The struggle for women’s rights, particularly equality in citizenship and access to resources, continues, and women’s organizations have been effective in raising their concerns in public discussions. Of particular concern are the human rights of groups that have become acutely vulnerable because of a lack of protection, including nearly five million Palestinian, Iraqi and other refugees in the Middle East, and hundreds of thousands of stateless persons and migrant workers. 
 

Achievements

 
The Office collaborated closely with the Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA) in its regional work, in particular with the ESCWA Centre for Women by contributing to the project on women in situations of armed conflict. Contact with ESCWA’s Emerging Conflicts and Related Issues Unit resulted in a joint programme that will continue during 2008-2009, and OHCHR’s support led to the adoption of a human rights-based approach in ESCWA’s preparation of the Arab Millennium Development Goals Report for 2007, focusing on youth.

Given the developments in Lebanon in 2006 and 2007 and due to resource constraints, the activities of the Regional Office were mainly focused on Lebanon. Significant achievements were realized in bringing a human rights focus to the work of UN agencies in Lebanon. OHCHR worked closely with UNHCR and UNRWA during and after the war of July 2006 and the May-August 2007 armed conflict between the Lebanese Army and a cross-national militant group,which resulted in the near total destruction of Nahr el-Bared Palestinian refugee camp. The Office continuously highlighted the importance of protecting civilians, co-chaired the Protection Working Group with UNHCR, and created a Protection Working Group for the north of the country in the context of the latter conflict. In the aftermath of the July 2006 war in Lebanon, the Office was also involved in the visits of five Special Rapporteurs and Representatives, and provided support to the Commission of Inquiry on Lebanon established by Human Rights Council Resolution S-2/1 and its subsequent report and recommendations.

Following the creation of the position of Special Coordinator for Lebanon in November 2006, OHCHR provides human rights advisory services for the Special Coordinator’s Office.

Priorities

The Office has identified a number of thematic issues that require attention at national and regional levels. In 2008- 2009, OHCHR will focus on freedom of expression, association and assembly, given that these are both threatened and essential to democratic participation. Target issues will include press freedom, the requirements of political participation and public debate, the freedom of civil society organizations, particularly human rights defenders, to operate freely, and trade and labour union rights. Economic and social rights will also be highlighted, particularly in the context of the Millennium Development Goals. The rights of women will continue to be a priority issue.

The Office will also focus on groups that are in particularly vulnerable situations, including refugees and stateless persons. The majority of refugees in the Middle East have no legal protection other than the good offices of UNHCR. Yemen is the only country in the Middle East to have ratified the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has no mandate for the legal protection of Palestinian refugees. The human rights of stateless persons, whose legal status is little understood or discussed within the region, will also be a focus of OHCHR’s programme. The Office will continue its activities to protect women migrant domestic workers in the region.

In implementing all of these activities, the Office will maximize resources by working closely with UN agencies and government and non-governmental partners. Many UN agencies have significant resources that can be tapped for joint programming with OHCHR. Projects undertaken with UNDP, the ILO, UNRWA and other agencies in the previous biennium offer excellent examples to be followed, and provide opportunities to mainstream human rights in the work of these agencies and that of the UN Country Teams in both Lebanon and Syria.