On Thursday 11 August, UNA-UK wrote to UN Secretary-General António Guterres about the search for the next UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
In the letter, we offered our support to help improve the transparency of the selection process and ensure the strongest possible field of applicants. This follows our constructive partnership during the selection process for a UN Human Rights Chief in 2018.
While UNA-UK welcomes the Secretary-General’s ongoing commitments to follow UN best practice for senior appointments, we are concerned about the short timeframe to complete the process, and other unimplemented actions including those recommended by the UN’s Joint Inspection Unit in 2011.
Specifically, the letter requests an update on the appointment process, the steps taken to ensure it is robust with respect to the potential for conflicts of interest, the expected timeline from this point forward, and information on the following:
- Will generic information about candidates be released in accordance with the 2011 JIU recommendation that the nationalities and gender of candidates interviewed and those recommended following the interviews be made public?
- Will women make up at least half of the candidates invited for interview in line with your commitment to gender parity? At bare minimum will there be at least one woman interviewed in line with the recommendation of the 2011 JIU report?
- Will the appointment follow the established process on the vetting of candidates and will vetting information be published?
- Will the terms of reference of the interview panel be published?
- Will civil society be included on the interview panel, as they were in 2018? How will the civil society representative on the interview panel be selected and will their name be disclosed?
- As part of the application process will the Secretary-General and his team consult with non-state external stakeholders within the human rights community?
We also reiterated the call from more than 60 civil society organisations, including UNA-UK, for the Secretary-General to ensure a merit-based appointment process. Our over 20,000 members and supporters have overwhelmingly called for a qualified high-profile individual with experience advocating for human rights and engaging with civil society; someone willing to stand up to oppressors and who represents constituencies beyond the usual suspects in the powerful West. The search for a human rights Chief comes at a time when the world is in crisis - now more than ever, the world needs a human rights champion who is courageous and principled.
Read more
- Read the letter in full
- Civil society search for courageous, principled UN Human Rights Chief - the UNA-UK Job description
- High Commissioner for Human Rights: Transparency Checklist
- UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Global civil society calls for merit-based appointment process
- See our 2018 Campaign to find the best High Commissioner for Human Rights
- Read our UN briefing on the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Photo: Secretary-General António Guterres briefs correspondents on the appointment of Michelle Bachelet as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2018. Credit: UN Photo/Mark Garten.
