Composition of Staff of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

A/HRC/RES/28/1No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 2Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General, published in 2015.

What other versions does this mandate have?

8 versions · 2010–2019

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/42/1

2019A/HRC/RES/42/1Composition of staff of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human RightsLatestCompare with previous version
2017A/HRC/RES/36/1Composition of staff of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human RightsCompare with previous version
2016A/HRC/RES/31/1Composition of staff of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human RightsCompare with previous version
2015A/HRC/RES/28/1Composition of staff of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human RightsCompare with previous version
2013A/HRC/RES/22/2Composition of staff of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human RightsCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

5 topics

Cultural Pluralism Geographical Distribution Personnel Management Professional Staff Staffing

What does this mandate say?

19 operative paragraphs

Expresses serious concern at the fact that, despite the measures reported by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the imbalance in the geographical representation of its composition continues to be prominent, and that a single region occupies almost half of the posts in the Office of the High Commissioner;

Notes with concern the fact that, in 2013, three regions decreased their representation in the percentage of staff and that an increase was recorded in the overrepresentation status of one region;

Welcomes the statement made by the High Commissioner in his report1 that enhancing the geographical diversity of the staff of the Office of the High Commissioner remains one of his priorities, and requests him to redouble his efforts with a view to redressing the current imbalance in the geographical composition of the staff of the Office, despite the budgetary contingency;

Requests the High Commissioner in this regard to establish specific and public targets and deadlines to be achieved;

Also requests the High Commissioner to work on the broadest geographical diversity of his staff by strengthening the measures aimed at achieving a better representation of countries and regions that are unrepresented or underrepresented, particularly from the developing world, while considering applying a cap on the representation of countries and regions already overrepresented in the Office of the High Commissioner;

Further requests the High Commissioner to implement further measures to eliminate the current imbalance in the geographical composition of the staff of the Office of the High Commissioner, in particular in the number of posts not subject to geographical distribution;

Takes note with appreciation of the commitment of the High Commissioner to remain attentive to the need to maintain the emphasis on the broadest possible geographic diversity of the Office of the High Commissioner, as stated in the conclusion of his report;

Welcomes the efforts made towards the achievement of a gender balance in the composition of the staff and the decision to continue to pay special attention to this issue;

Recognizes that, as at 31 December 2013, women accounted for 54.6 per cent of all staff at the Professional and higher level at the Office of the High Commissioner;

Underlines the importance of continuing to promote geographical diversity in recruitment and promotion at the Professional level and in particular in senior management positions as a principle of the staffing policies of the Office of the High Commissioner;

Reaffirms the vital importance of geographical balance in the composition of the staff of the Office of the High Commissioner, taking into account the significance of national and regional specificities and various historic, cultural and religious backgrounds and of different political, economic and legal systems to the promotion and protection of the universality of human rights;

Recalls the provisions contained in section X, paragraph 3 of General Assembly resolution 55/258 of 14 June 2001, on human resources management, in which the Assembly reiterated its request to the Secretary-General to increase further his efforts to improve the composition of the Secretariat by ensuring a wide and equitable geographical distribution of staff in each and every department;

Underlines the priority importance that the General Assembly continue to provide support and guidance to the High Commissioner in the ongoing process of improving the geographical balance in the composition of the staff of the Office of the High Commissioner;

Requests the High Commissioner to continue to improve his interaction with Member States, including within the framework of President’s statements PRST/15/2 of 1 October 2010, PRST/18/2 of 30 September 2011 and PRST/19/1 of 22 March 2012, and giving particular attention to the composition of the staff;

Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Joint Inspection Unit on the review of the management and administration of the Office of the High Commissioner, and decides to follow up on the staff composition issues highlighted therein;

Takes note of the note by the Secretary-General on the report of the Joint Inspection Unit;

Invites the General Assembly and its appropriate subsidiary bodies to give consideration to the present resolution and, as necessary, to the relevant sections of the report of the Joint Inspection Unit4 to the implementation of the present resolution on the composition of the staff of the Office of the High Commissioner;

Requests the High Commissioner to submit a comprehensive and updated report to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-third session following the structure and scope of his report and with a special focus on further measures taken to correct the imbalance in the geographical composition of the staff of the Office of the High Commissioner, including targets and timetables and other specific actions;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

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