United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) President Vojislav Suc has appointed New York University (NYU) School of Law Professor Pablo de Greiff as one of three rapporteurs charged with producing a report with recommendations for how the HRC can contribute to the prevention of human rights violations, pursuant to HRC Resolution 38/18.

The process authorized by the resolution marks a welcome departure from the Council’s usual practice in several ways. The rapporteurs will go beyond consultations with member states, convening seminars with participation from a diverse set of stakeholders, including representatives of non-governmental organizations, subregional and regional organizations, international human rights mechanisms, national human rights institutions, as well as the UN Secretariat and relevant bodies. Thematically, their work will, for the first time, explicitly focus attention on how the Human Rights Council can fulfill more effectively its preventive function. Additionally, the process will tackle lack of UN-wide coordination and the scarcity of resources for human rights generally and for the prevention of human rights violations particularly.

Experts are expected to make recommendations on, among other things, more effective collaboration within the UN “with a view to strengthening system-wide coherence,” “contributing to sustaining peace and the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals,”  and evaluating the availability within the UN system of financial resources for prevention.

Professor de Greiff will be joined by former Commissioner on Human Rights for the Council of Europe Nils Muiznieks, and Sierra Leone’s Permanent Ambassador to the UN Yvette Stevens, who will serve as chair-rapporteur.

Professor de Greiff directs the Transitional Justice Program at the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice. He served as the inaugural UN Special Rapporteur for the promotion of truth, justice, reparations, and guarantees of non-recurrence from May 2012 until May 2018.

Visit our Transitional Justice Program page to learn more about de Greiff’s work and CHRGJ’s related activities.

** Editor’s Note: This announcement was edited on October 26 and October 29, 2018. **