The world is celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration at a time when many of the rights and fundamental freedoms are under attack. What are the main reasons behind these attacks and how do you aim to put an end to them through the work of your office?

Not least due to conflict and war in the past few years, we have seen an escalation in brutality and cruelty that dehumanizes the ‘other’. If we look back through history, counteracting such dehumanization is where human rights began. Human rights emerged from a very dark period in the history of humanity in the 20th century, recognizing that people deserve rights and equal opportunities. 

On several fronts, rights and freedoms are under attack. In conflicts. In the civic space, we are witnessing a rise of authoritarianism, and we are even seeing push back on gender equality. We also see human rights under threat due to big issues like climate change and macroeconomic policies that no longer serve people. Human rights offer us inspiration and a solution to the challenges of our time. They offer a framework to guide us, especially in the most difficult of times, and provide an objective measure of analyzing situations, without leaving anyone behind. 

My office’s function is to document, report and engage. Some might question why we sometimes intervene [publicly] later than expected. Our response is that our work must be evidence-based and sometimes takes time. When we issue a report on a situation, it is grounded in rigorous methodology, one which serves as the voice of reason and brings objective information to the world.

It is important for us to engage with everyone: human rights defenders, civil society, victims, survivors, government leaders and non-state groups. Sometimes we get criticized for this, but it is important in the process of enacting change to have such discussions to outline human rights standards and ensure accountability.

International human rights law has been developed and accepted by Member States. It is crucial to insist on this to ensure that human rights are not violated.

What are the main outcomes you would like to achieve through the Human Rights 75 High-level event that will take place in December to strengthen the Universal Declaration? 

International human rights law and the work that my office does can be likened to traffic regulations. Fortunately, 95% of the time these work, and laws of the road are respected not just because they are the rules, but because we all want to avoid an accident. This is similar to international human rights laws, and we need to remind ourselves of the fundamental purpose that laws and standards serve. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights seeks to prevent monstrosities and gives us rules of justice and respect, even if there continues to be violations. 

We are going through one of the most difficult geopolitical periods and face an increasingly divided and polarized world. Therefore we need to revert to basics. What are human rights? Why did they emerge? How did they emerge? How did they bring the individual and the community to the fore? What more needs to be done to achieve the freedoms that many people do not have?

At the High-level event in December, we hope to have a vision statement coming out that points to the future, with human rights at the center, [along with concrete pledges]. The High-level event will look at human rights and the future through round tables on four key topics. Human rights in peace and security, to refocus and address current concerns. The changing climate and the environment, that affects the lives and rights of many — for example, there is a justice and equity issue where indigenous and minority groups are impacted by the lifestyles of others. The third topic is on human rights, AI and the digital world, which poses a big threat to, but also an opportunity for humanity. The fourth topic is the role of human rights in development and the economy. I hope the outcomes of the High-level event will feed into the ‘Summit of the Future’ event taking place in New York in 2024.

The Human Rights Council is criticized as repeating the same mistakes of its predecessor, the Human Rights Commission. What role can your office play to avoid repetition of past mistakes? 

There is a danger of polarization: a black and white approach does not respect the complexities of today’s world. In the last Human Rights Council session, I was encouraged by the role of Member States working together with us to achieve concrete results regarding the right to development, economic, social and cultural rights, and other equally important themes. 

As High Commissioner, together with my office, I want to reach out and listen to everyone, and connect the dots. What can we do to bring everyone together? It is so important that we put all our energy into finding solutions. It would be beneficial if we look at human rights from a human perspective, and not an ideological perspective.

I addressed the “politics of distraction” in my last speech to the Human Rights Council, as these are not helping us advance. I believe in the role and value of the Council, as it can have an impact on the ground. People often want to find issues to drive wedges between countries — distracting from the problems that need sorting out. We need visionaries to provide leadership, with strong belief systems behind them. Human rights give us some hope and, as an intergovernmental body, the Council can facilitate meaningful conversations to avoid mistakes made in the past.

Your office is embarking on a reform exercise. In what way will this exercise strengthen the capacity of the office to meet the challenges that the human rights agenda is facing globally? 

The pillars of the United Nations are development, peace and security, and human rights. Without human rights, there cannot be development, nor can there be peace nor security. When I first came to the office, I realized how underfunded and under-graded OHCHR is. I have been to many countries and seen the important work on the ground that all our colleagues do, with such little funding. My aim is to get more funding to support our work. 

We are the bridge between human rights defenders, civil society, and the state. We use our in-depth experience to monitor human rights situations and ensure responses are in line with internationally agreed frameworks. We must have surge capacity to be able to respond to crises. We also need more expertise on the digital side and a much bigger presence on the ground. This means strengthening our base at headquarters and in the field to serve our purpose, and to result in a more effective and higher quality of work. The world is in a delicate state and we need to strengthen our foundations to carry out our mandate for the people we serve.

I hope to be able to trigger a change but also recognize that this is a long-term investment. What better tools can we find? How can we be more innovative? This means we need to be better on data and strategic foresight. I am impressed with my office’s ability to monitor human rights around the world, but human rights is also about prevention, which is an area we could be growing. 

We don’t necessarily want the office to be bigger, but we do want to improve our effectiveness. When I talk to younger colleagues in the advisory group, we have to support our change management process. I am reassured that they have such an appetite for change and want to be creative with different ideas. We need to listen more to the solutions they have, to improve our approach on human rights issues. 

What would you like to say to your staff and those working globally on human rights issues on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Declaration?

The strongest message that can be given to all those who care deeply about human rights is to never give up. Be guided by all those that have come before; let’s inspire each other to make a difference and help each other create solutions as a united force. 

HUMAN RIGHTS 75 HIGH-LEVEL EVENT 

10 December 2023 marks the 75th anniversary of one of the world’s most ground-breaking global agreements: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UN Human Rights Office is organizing a High-level event at Palais des Nations from 11-12 December, collecting concrete and innovative pledges from states and other stakeholders, looking ahead to the future of human rights. The outcome of this event will contribute to the 2024 ‘Summit of the Future’.