The Human Rights Adviser for the South Caucasus was deployed in Tbilisi, Georgia, in May 2007, heading a team of national staff within the UN Country Teams in Georgia and Azerbaijan. The deployment helped increase OHCHR’s capacity to incorporate human rights-based approaches into the UN Country Team’s development programming in the region and to assist governments and civil society in strengthening national capacities to promote and protect human rights. OHCHR brought UN treaty body committee members to the countries of the region, encouraging interaction between its national partners and international human rights mechanisms.

The Human Rights Adviser helps raise awareness about international human rights standards among governments, civil society and the public and helps translate these standards into national legislation, policies and practices. The Adviser focuses on administration of justice, freedom of expression, and the human rights of disempowered, vulnerable and conflict-affected groups, and will assist in implementing the recommendations of recent treaty body considerations and special procedure mechanisms, particularly in light of the recent visit of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of internally displaced persons.