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73rd session
Banjul, 20 October – 9 November 2022
Statement by Maymuchka Lauriston, Deputy Regional Representative, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to the African Union/East Africa Regional Office
Honourable Chairperson
Honourable Commissioners
Distinguished delegates
I am greatly honoured to deliver remarks on behalf of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the opening of the 73rd session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, especially at the time when the international community celebrates 35 years since the establishment of your esteemed institution in 1987. On behalf of the High Commissioner, I congratulate you for the sterling work you have done for the past 35 years, including establishing yourselves as the central pillar for the promotion and protection of human and peoples' rights in Africa. Our Office values the good cooperation that it has enjoyed over the years that was formalised through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in 2019. OHCHR looks forward to seamless cooperation as our institutions continue to complement each other in our respective mandates to promote and protect human rights on the African continent.
Honourable Chairperson
Honourable Commissioners
Distinguished delegates
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the cooperation and implementation of joint activities by our institutions slowed. However, OHCHR stands ready to ramp-up efforts to implement joint activities in light of the lifting of the various COVID-19 restrictions.. The recent technical consultation that OHCHR organised with African Union organs with a human rights mandate in Lusaka, Zambia, on 10 and 11 July 2022, provided us with the opportunity to take stock of the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding, to identify and draw up a workplan of joint activities.
I am also pleased to report on three key areas that our Office has been able to focus on in collaboration with your institution and other AU organs. First, on early warning and conflict prevention, I note that your study on ‘Addressing human rights in conflict situations’ has clearly identified the critical importance that human rights play in all phases of the conflict cycle. The study’s recommendations, your resolution 332 and various other resolutions by the African Union Peace and Security Council recognize the urgent need for institutionalizing a human rights-based approach to conflict prevention, management, and resolution on the continent.