UN human rights agency appeals to donors for nearly $55 million for next year

The United Nations human rights agency today appealed for $54.8 million in contributions to fund activities in the coming year and to continue efforts to strengthen the institution.

Voluntary contributions are particularly important for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) as they account for over two thirds of its total budget, the agency said in a news release in Geneva. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has requested more regular budget funding from the General Assembly for the 2004-2005 period and the OHCHR will also get $27.1 million from the UN budget next year.

Introducing Annual Appeal 2004, to be launched officially on Monday at a meeting of UN Member States in Geneva, acting OHCHR head Bertrand Ramcharan, said it comes during one of the most difficult periods in the agency's short history.

"Our challenge, has been to maintain momentum in a time of crisis and to honour Sergio's memory by sustaining progress in a time of transition," Mr. Ramcharan said in reference to former Human Rights High Commissioner Sergio Vieira de Mello, who was killed in a terrorist attack in Baghdad in August.

The agency must continue "his efforts to strengthen the institution, to give it a sharper focus and clearer priorities, to streamline and rationalize its structures, to improve its field policies, and to improve its internal management," he added. "These reforms serve our overall goal of promoting an integrated human rights programme that brings together several critical components into a coherent whole."

The appeal covers the areas of support to UN human rights organs, including the Commission on Human Rights and the bodies that monitor how human rights treaties are implemented, programmes at the regional and country levels, response to new human rights challenges and the strengthening of OHCHR's capacity, including information technology and staff security.