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1 1 (September 22, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdbvk0001 and id is 1 raw text is: FF.ri E~$~ & Updated September 22, 2020 United Nations Issues: U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR, or the Office) is the primary U.N. administrative body that addresses human rights. The United States generally funds the Office through assessed contributions to the U.N. regular budget (between $18- $20.5 million a year), and voluntary contributions (between $5-$15 million over the past five years). Since FY2018, the Trump Administration has withheld assessed U.S. funding from the Office, possibly due to concerns regarding its activities related to the Palestinians and its work with the U.N. Human Rights Council (the Council). (The United States withdrew from the Council in 2018 due to concerns about its disproportionate focus on Israel and perceived inability to effectively address human rights issues.) Some Members of Congress agree that the withholding is merited; others view OHCHR as an important mechanism for preventing and responding to human rights violations worldwide. Some are also concerned that the withholding was not authorized by Congress. The United States has continued to provide voluntary funding to the Office as specified by Congress in annual appropriations bills. OHCHR was created in 1993 by U.N. General Assembly resolution 48/141 as an outcome of the U.N. World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna that year. Support for establishing such an office increased within the changed political dynamics of the post-Cold War era and because of a perceived need to ensure effective coordination of the growing number of U.N. human rights-focused treaty bodies and mechanisms. IIN. c re for Human RiTh's The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights is appointed by the U.N. Secretary-General and approved by the General Assembly. He or she serves up to two four-year terms, although to date no commissioner has served for more than one term. According to resolution 48/141, the High Commissioner has principal responsibility for United Nations human rights activities, and operates under the direction of the Secretary-General. While serving as a high- profile human rights advocate is one aspect of the High Commissioner's role, he or she also serves as an impartial evaluator of human rights conditions, as a diplomat who must deliver tough messages to governments while also working with them to improve their practices, and as a manager tasked with overseeing a substantively and geographically broad U.N. organization. At times, High Commissioners have criticized human rights conditions in the United States. For instance, in June 2020 the current High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet of Chile called for protesters' grievances concerning racism in the United States to be heard and addressed. She condemned violence, urging protestors to express their demands for justice peacefully, while calling on police to refrain from enflaming the situation through excessive force. OHCHR works with governments and civil society organizations to monitor human rights conditions and provide expertise and technical assistance in support of international human rights standards. Assistance may include human rights assessments, advisory services, trainings, and other activities. (For example, OHCHR has helped build the capacity of the Gambia's truth commission to investigate alleged human right violations under the government of former president Yahya Jammeh.) OHCHR also works to mainstream human rights promotion throughout the U.N. system, including within relevant U.N. specialized agencies. (For example, it seeks to ensure that human rights issues are integrated within U.N. mechanisms and policies that address terrorism and violent extremism.) OHCHR is headquartered in Geneva and is bureaucratically situated within the U.N. Secretariat, which is the U.N. system's administrative body led by the Secretary-General. It has an office in New York and a field-based presence that includes country/stand-alone offices and human rights missions, regional offices, human rights components as part of U.N. peacekeeping missions, and human rights advisors within U.N. country teams. OHCHR may also use rapid response teams during human rights emergencies (e.g., in 2019 OHCHR deployed teams to conduct remote monitoring of human rights violations in Venezuela). A major part of OHCHR's work consists of supporting the U.N. Human Rights Council. OHCHR and the Council are distinct entities, yet their work is often connected. The Council is an intergovernmental body composed of 47 member states. OHCHR, as part of the U.N. Secretariat, helps support and coordinate the Council's work, including that done by country or issue-focused human rights monitoring experts that have been appointed by council members (known as special procedures). OHCHR also carries out any tasks or activities assigned by the Council and makes relevant recommendations. wl g$ OHCHR is funded through both assessed and voluntary contributions from governments and other donors. Assessed contributions are provided through the U.N. regular budget; they fund core human rights activities and programs, including those mandated by the General Assembly and Human Rights Council. Voluntary contributions can vary from year to year and generally fund specific projects earmarked by donors. In 2019, total funds available were $284.6 million. Of this amount, $105.6 million (37%) was K~:> mppm qq\ p\w gn'a', ggmm a 'S I 11LULANUALiN,

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