Press Release No. G/03/2001

1 March 2001

UNESCAP/HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER GIVE HUMAN RIGHTS
A BOOST IN REGION

ESCAP  to integrate human rights dimension in its programmes

BANGKOK, 28 February 2001 (United Nations Information Services) – Mary Robinson, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Kim Hak-Su, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), have signed a landmark memorandum of intent to strengthen cooperation between the two agencies.

The agreement between Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) and ESCAP will result in the assignment of a senior Human Rights Advisor from OHCHR in the ESCAP Secretariat.

The advisor's mandate includes support for the programmes and activities of ESCAP in the human rights related areas as well as promotion of human rights within the UN system in the Asia-Pacific region.

According to Mrs. Robinson, such a presence would “allow us to understand the human rights situation better, as well as identify suitable strategies and partners.”

Mr. Kim Hak-Su said that the memorandum of intent was the culmination of some years of collaboration between the two offices and aimed at strengthening an already close collaboration.

“Human rights and development are closely linked, as both have as their main concerns human security and well-being. The new human rights approach to development is not limited to being merely a set of rights associated with the democratic process, but also embraces the inclusion of human rights within the policy and practice of development co-operation,” he said. Among some of the programmes both organizations are expected embark on will be dissemination of information and organization of human rights training.

ESCAP has begun work in information dissemination and advocacy in the form of a television series on the “right to development” produced by young television journalists from Colombo-based Worldview International Foundation. The  film series will be launched next month in Geneva, Oslo and Bangkok.

ESCAP is the largest of the five United Nations Regional Commissions, representing some 60 per cent of the world's population.

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