OACDH - Oficina Regional del Norte de Africa (2008-2009)

Human rights context

The North Africa region continues to face challenges in the areas of rule of law, good governance and, in some cases, effective transitional justice initiatives and prolonged states of emergency. Gender protection and the rights of persons in vulnerable groups, for example, children and migrants, remain key areas to be strengthened. Other issues of concern include freedom of expression and information, protection of human rights defenders, freedom of association, judicial independence, the impact of counter-terrorism legislation, and law enforcement.

The mandate of the Regional Office for North Africa, like that of other regional offices, is to help develop engagement strategies for countries requiring more focused attention; provide coverage for other countries, as requested by Headquarters; engage with regional and subregional intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations; and function as 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 will be the first OHCHR presence in the region.

Priorities

In its initial phase, 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 capacities of governments and civil society actors in the region, including in thematic issues such as judicial independence, impunity, the impact of counter-terrorism legislation, and law enforcement. OHCHR will also work on issues relating to gender protection and human rights defenders in cooperation with local and regional institutions and organizations, with the aim of increasing participation in decision-making processes. These objectives will be met through regular analysis and reporting, sharing OHCHR materials, media engagement, development of training modules, and providing training.

The Regional Office will also serve 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 possibly carry out joint programming with partners such as UN agencies, the UN Country Teams, regional organizations including the African Union and the League of Arab States, and national human rights institutions. The Office will serve as a link between Member States and these entities by promoting greater interaction with the special procedures by referring individual complaints and supporting visits by special procedure mandate-holders. The Office will 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 both special procedures and treaty bodies.