Technical briefing on OHCHR 2011 Report Thursday, 19 July 2012 Room XII Palais des Nations, Geneva
Attendance
- Member States: Afghanistan, Algeria, Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Botswana, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Cuba, Czech Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Denmark, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lithuania, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, The Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela.
- Other participants: Council of Europe, European Union, Holy See
List of speakers
OHCHR
- Navanethem Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights
- Kyung-wha Kang, Deputy High Commissioner
- Mercedes Morales, Chief, Donor and External Relations Section
Member States
- Netherlands
- Turkey
- Morocco
- Mexico
- Pakistan, speaking on behalf of Algeria, Bangladesh, China, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, Iran, Malaysia, the Russian Federation, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Venezuela. After the meeting, Uganda sent a Note Verbal stating that they also supported this statement.
- Pakistan
- Cuba
- China
- India
- United States of America
- United Kingdom
- Brazil
- Belgium
- Romania
- Indonesia
- Tunisia
- France
- Norway
- European Union
- Thailand
Main topics discussed
OHCHR Report 2011
- Improvements compared to previous years; results-based reporting; clarity and usefulness of information; and presentation of information
- Presidential Statement 19/1 and the information it requests from the OHCHR Report.
- Online survey of the OHCHR Report 2011
Funding and budget
- The need for more regular budget allocation for OHCHR, particularly in view of increasing mandates from the Human Rights Council but also with the increase in size of the treaty bodies.
- Coherence between Mission in Geneva and New York in relation to negotiations in the Fifth Committee.
- OHCHR’s funding gap, rationalization of expenses and prioritization of work. Criteria for cutting activities in order to save costs.
- Allocation of voluntary contributions, e.g. to the special procedures
- Information on expenditure, including costs of personnel, consultancies, administrative costs, and other expenses unrelated to salaries
- Criteria used by OHCHR to accept contributions from the private sector
- Need for increased unearmarked contributions
- Need for new donors
Management
- Transparency, accountability and independence of the Office
- Review of the Strategic Framework
- Efficiency of the activities undertaken by the Office
- Geographical and gender balance of staff. Staffing rules of the Secretariat.
- Independence and impartiality of the staff
- Staff directory
- Junior Professional Officers (JPO) programme
Other issues
- Regular briefings for Member States
- Special procedures, different levels of activities, difference in funding levels and the diverse nature of the different mandates.
Written Statements by Member States
Oral Statements by Member States and OHCHR (audio files)
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