Following the completion of OHCHR’s technical cooperation project in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia at the end of 2006, OHCHR deployed a national human rights adviser with the aim of providing advice to the UN Country Team on how to incorporate human rights into programming, supporting the Country Team’s interaction with UN human rights bodies, and assisting the country in implementing recommendations of recent treaty body considerations, particularly with regard to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), and special procedure visits, notably the latest visit of the Special Representative of the Secretary- General on the situation of human rights defenders. The Human Rights Adviser served as part of the UN Country Team’s theme group on human rights and gender and worked to incorporate human rights principles in the Country Team’s daily work.
A major outcome of the theme group’s work was the completion of a mapping exercise of Country Team activities,which will be an important starting point for the development of a Team strategy on human rights and gender. An assessment of the extent of domestic violence in The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was also completed during 2006-2007, the first ever UN joint programming effort in the country. In the coming biennium, the Human Rights Adviser will continue to focus on strengthening capacities for joint action within the UN Country Team and strengthening the Country Team’s and national actors’ capacity to engage with UN human rights mechanisms. Preparations will also be made for the Universal Periodic Review, scheduled for the country for 2009, and the Office will continue its work to ensure that national human rights institutions adhere to the Paris Principles.