Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) was established in December 1993, and it continues to work as the principal human rights office of the UN in compliance with the international human rights treaties and the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Alongside supervising the Human Rights Council in Geneva, OHCHR primarily focuses on promoting human rights without distinction as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. OHCHR ensures the protection of human rights under severe circumstances of violence, conflict, and insecurity. 

OHCHR, in the region of Africa, is mostly concerned with the issues of human trafficking, gender inequality, civil rights protection, children’s rights, and cultural discrimination. There are 4 regional offices located in West, East, Southern, and Central Africa, as well as country offices in Chad, Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania, Niger, Sudan, and Uganda. Based in Brussels, The OHCHR regional offices based in Dakar, Addis Ababa, Pretoria, and Yaoundé engage governments in the region actively with international human rights mechanisms, promoting a human rights-based approach in domestic and international cooperation, and advocating for the protection of human rights in safe migration policies.