Presentation to NGOs of the Annual Report 2016

Statement by the High Commissioner

30 May 2017

Dear friends and colleagues,

I am delighted to have this opportunity to meet with you again, and to present to you the Annual Report of my Office for 2016. It outlines the achievements and struggles of my Office during a period of intensifying challenges to our joint cause: upholding human rights across the world.

At a time of extreme global turbulence, and many dashed hopes, I strongly believe it is essential that the leaders of States and their peoples retain the guidance and wisdom which are embodied in human rights norms. Universal commitments, such as the pledge to battle discrimination based on race, sex, belief, ethnicity, class, caste or other category, are being increasingly challenged today. We must push back, because our commitments to human dignity, fundamental freedoms and the intrinsic and inalienable equality of every human being are essential if we are to live together.

I know that you share my acute concern about increasing attempts to close the civil society space, including attacks on civil society and human rights defenders. Over the past year many States have continued to intensify restrictions on registration and funding for civil society organisations Independent media and judges are also under growing threat. In many countries, it is now extremely dangerous for human rights defenders to do their essential work. Many have been killed or disappeared in the past year – particularly people who stood firm for the rights of their communities in the face of predatory actions by businesses, criminal gangs and local politicians.

It has been a top priority for my Office to fight impunity, and to stand up for the rights of civil society activists, human rights defenders, the independence of the judiciary, the rights of media workers –in general, the right to participate, assemble and express views freely, without fear. The great public freedoms which underpin the civil society space – the freedoms of expression and opinion, assembly and association, and the principle of inclusive, responsive and participatory government – are vital conditions to promote and protect all human rights, and to protect peace. Repression will not protect public order. It will damage it, by forcing grievances underground, where tensions will build – with often dramatic consequences. Already, the result, in many regions, is increasing instability – earthquake zones which may pitch into crisis at the slightest tremor.

Building the capacity of civil society activists and helping to ensure the broadest possible space in which they work is fundamental to the work of upholding human rights. No issue is more central to our mission. From monitoring to legal guidance, assistance and advocacy, my staff and I focused – in 2016 as in every year – on fighting to keep the democratic space as open as possible. I include here our efforts to build capacity, strength and knowledge among civil society groups, so they can claim their rights. Assisting National Human Rights Institutions to take on a strong and fully independent role, in compliance with the Paris Principles, is also fundamental to ensuring healthy and accountable national human rights protection systems.

The 2030 Agenda provides new impetus for advancing human rights and protecting civil society space, with its target on ensuring public access to information and protection of fundamental freedoms. States' progress in achieving this target will be evaluated in part by the “number of verified cases of killing, kidnapping, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention and torture of journalists, associated media personnel, trade unionists and human rights advocates.” In the past year the UN Statistical Commission’s Inter-Agency Agenda and Expert Group on the SDGs has request my Office to serve as a custodial agency and lead development of a number of indicators. This work on SDG indicators, and data disaggregation, seeks to build on crucial opportunities such as
Goal 16.

It can be difficult to maintain optimism in the face of the human rights challenges we face today; but the 2030 Agenda is one area where I believe optimism is justified – a real opportunity to transform the lives of millions.

The report I am presenting today contains hundreds of examples of programmes led by my Office, across every region of the world, to push forward our human rights priorities. Rather than attempt to summarize them, I want to open the floor to you – to listen to your concerns, and gather your thoughts about what we are achieving and, as we enter into a new planning cycle at the end of 2017, your views on the way forward for my Office.

In the coming year, we will mark the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a ground-breaking, and world-changing, declaration of wisdom and principle which continues to guide all our work. I am confident this will be the occasion for a strong and united renewal of our determination to realise the inalienable and universal rights of all. 

Thank you.