In May 2007, a Human Rights Adviser was deployed to continue the work begun by another human rights adviser in 2004-2005. The country is beset with general lawlessness, lack of government transparency, and interracial mistrust. The establishment of a Governance Unit in the Office of the President has signalled the Government’s interest in improving its human rights record. Deployed within the Resident Coordinator’s Office, the Human Rights Adviser has worked with the UN Country Team to integrate a human rights-based approach into the 2006-2010 UNDAF. In July 2007, the Human Rights Adviser provided training on strengthening national human rights protection mechanisms to the Presidential Adviser on Governance and non-State stakeholders. As a result, a multi-stakeholder National Human Rights Partnership was launched and a Human Rights Unit within the Office of the President was being established at the time of writing.
As part of its exit strategy, the Human Rights Adviser will advise the UN Country Team on how to include human rights in the implementation of the UNDAF, the formulation of the new poverty-reduction strategy paper and other planning frameworks of the UN Country Team, so as to ensure that the UN Country Team’s human rights efforts are sustainable. With the expert advice of the Human Rights Adviser, the National Human Rights Partnership is expected to become a public mechanism through which civil society can monitor and support the Government’s progress on its human rights treaty obligations and recommendations. In coordination with the new Social Cohesion Programme, the Human Rights Adviser will advocate for the establishment of five rights-based commissions while providing technical advice to the State institutions that underpin the rule of law, including the police, the magistracy and the judiciary, so that they can incorporate human rights standards into their daily work.