OHCHR - North Africa Regional Office

Human rights context

The North Africa region continues to present major human rights challenges and opportunities.   Almost all states of the region are undergoing their own democratic transitions to ensure that the human rights and aspirations of all their people are respected, without discrimination and in accordance with international standards.   Human rights challenges are in the areas of rule of law, good governance, economic, social and cultural rights, and, in some cases, effective transitional justice initiatives and prolonged states of emergency.  Gender protection, women and children’s rights and the rights of persons in vulnerable groups, for example, children and migrants, remain key areas to be strengthened.  Other human rights issues of concern include freedom of expression and information, protection of human rights defenders, freedom of association, judicial independence and law enforcement, the impact of counter-terrorism legislation and economic and social rights.  

The mandate of the Regional Office for North Africa, like that of other regional offices, is to technically assist all countries of the region and with particular focus on those in transition to focus their priorities and policies without discrimination, on human rights centred and in accordance with international standards. The Office will provide coverage for other countries, as requested by Headquarters; engage with regional and sub-regional intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations; and function as a resource centre for country offices, human rights components of peace operations and human rights officers deployed in the region by providing relevant thematic expertise for capacity-building, fact-finding, advocacy and other activities. To that end, regional offices are intended to help bridge gaps in implementation at the national level.

The geographic scope of the regional office will encompass the following countries: Algeria, Egypt, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.   The Regional Office for North Africa works in close cooperation with OHCHR Country Offices in Mauritania and Tunisia as well as with the Human Rights Section within UNSMI Libya. 

Priorities

OHCHR’s Regional Office will focus on establishing bilateral cooperation frameworks with countries in the region where OHCHR has no presence and identifying relevant thematic priorities in consultation with Member States, national human rights institutions, NGOs and UN Country Teams in the region.

The Office will seek to strengthen the national human rights capacities of governments and civil society actors in the region on the promotion and protection of all human rights without discrimination, including thematic issues such as judicial independence, fighting impunity, the impact of counter-terrorism legislation, and law enforcement. These include, but are not limited to, the provision of support for the establishment of appropriate transitional justice mechanisms, the provision of support for strengthening national and regional stakeholders on issues relating to gender protection, women and children’s rights and human rights defenders with the aim of increasing participation and inclusion in decision-making processes. These objectives will be met through regular analysis and reporting, sharing OHCHR materials, engagement with member states in developing national action plans on human rights, providing technical assistance and training modules, and participating in regional consultations on human rights issues.

The Regional Office also serves as a forum for sharing regional experiences and good practices in the area of human rights, particularly concerning the priority themes of impunity, weak institutions and discrimination. It will cooperate in and carry out joint programming with international and regional partners such as UN agencies, UN Country Teams, regional organizations, and national human rights institutions. The Office will support country visits by Special Procedures Mandate holders and also advocate for treaty ratification, reporting and follow-up. It will assist Member States, national human rights institutions, civil society and UN Country Teams in developing appropriate mechanisms for treaty reporting and follow-up to recommendations by special procedures, treaty bodies and the UPR mechanism.

Achievements

OHCHR Regional Office for North Africa (RONA) co-organized with the UN Information Centre in Cairo and the Arab Organization for Human Rights in Cairo (Egypt) in December 2012, a two-day panel discussion on human rights defenders and social media in the Arab region, successes and challenges. Several journalists, including 6 television crews attended the opening, during which the High Commissioner’s Human Rights Day video address was projected. 

RONA co-organized the Regional Consultation Meeting on 13 and 14 April 2012 in Cairo, Egypt with the International Service for Human Rights and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies. The Consultation Meeting entitled «human rights defenders in the Middle East and North Africa, and Regional and International Human Rights Mechanisms», was facilitated by international experts including the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, and the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights.

RONA held a regional workshop, jointly with the Moroccan Inter-ministerial Delegation for Human Rights and the Association for the Prevention of Torture, on the “Prevention of Torture in the Context of Transitions”, in Rabat, Morocco. Particular attention was given to international mechanisms for the prohibition and prevention of torture. Some 60 participants from Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia attended the Workshop, including Government officials, and representatives from national human rights institutions and civil society actors as well as UN Residents Coordinators.

RONA technically and financially assisted the implementation of a workshop in Lebanon on female human rights defenders (2 days for 12 participants from Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco) which brought together Women Human Rights Defenders and UN country representatives in the MENA region to reflect on different country experiences, main challenges and obstacles for women activities, and on how best to strategize on specific actions that could be taken at the national level to enhance the wider UN’s role and support for Women Human Rights Defenders.  RONA, in partnership with UNDP regional office and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), organised Regional Consultation on “Transitional Justice in the Middle East and North Africa: Recent Developments and Past Experiences”. The Regional Consultation took place in Cairo on 7-9 November and gathered more than 70 participants and representatives of Governments, civil society organisations and national human rights institutions across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region who shared their experiences and practices on transitional justice, identified challenges and needs, and discussed possible cooperation with national, regional and international stakeholders.