HR Adviser To Support UNCT

There is an increased interest on the redeployment of a Human Rights Adviser to support the UN Country Team (UNCT) in Sri Lanka through 2015, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said.

An OHCHR report said that the work to promote the increased engagement of NGOs with the UN human rights mechanisms could not be thoroughly implemented, as was the case with most of the activities planned for 2014, since the request to extend the visa of the Human Rights Adviser was denied at the end of March last year.

The report said that while some inputs were received from NGOs, it was reported that many of those NGOs in Sri Lanka, who have regularly worked with OHCHR, were under increased surveillance and had received threats in relation to their engagement with the international community on human rights matters.

However, the OHCHR report said that the environment in Sri Lanka has changed significantly since the elections in January 2015 with an increased interest on the redeployment of a Human Rights Adviser to support the UNCT through 2015.