Enhancing UN Human Rights Work on the Ground

Abstract

Human rights work largely consisted of the important task of creating treaties and standards, organizing the annual meetings of the Human Rights Commission and its Sub-Commission, and supporting the work of a number of special rapporteurs and working groups. The last 20 years have seen an explosion of on-the-ground long-term field presences in various guises working on human rights around the world. This is a tectonic shift from the UN’s approach in the first 45 years of its existence. It has brought human rights down from a high conceptual, some would argue abstract, level, to improving people’s lives in real, measurable, and concrete ways. The author discusses few methods that Human rights commission has followed to improve people’s lives. Much of the preceding analysis has been distilled into ten Guiding Principles (GPs) for Human Rights Field Officers Working in Conflict and Post-Conflict Environments. Keywords:Guiding Principles (GPs); Human Rights Commission; Human Rights Field Officers; Human Rights Work; Post-Conflict Environments