GENEVA The United Nations Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Central African Republic (CAR), Yao Agbetse, will pay an official visit to the country from 07 to 17 February 2023.
This visit is in line with Human Rights Council resolution 51/37, which mandated the independent expert to assess, monitor and report on the situation, with a view to making recommendations for technical assistance and capacity building in the field of human rights.
During his mission, the expert will meet government officials and institutions, representatives of civil society and the United Nations system, as well as members of the diplomatic community. He will travel to the countryside to meet and discuss with the local authorities and the various actors and partners operating in these localities, with particular emphasis on the situation of children.
Mr. Agbetse will hold a press conference to share his preliminary observations at the end of his visit on February 17. Access will be strictly reserved for journalists. The time and place of the press conference will be announced later.
The findings of the visit will also be presented at the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council in March 2023.
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Mr. Yao Agbetse (Togo) is a human rights lawyer, researcher and teacher who has devoted the last 25 years of his life to justice and human rights, including children’s rights. He has implemented human rights programs at the national level and provided legal and technical advice for the development and monitoring of national human rights laws and policies, notably in Benin, Côte d Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali and Togo. It has created space and tools for dialogue and joint efforts of state actors and CSOs. In the DRC, Côte d’Ivoire and Mali, he implemented DDR programmes, trained army and police leaders and provided support to mandate holders and United Nations operations, in particular by participating in the interactive dialogue under item 10 during the sessions of the Human Rights Council in Geneva. He provided first-hand factual information to UN experts to help them assess human rights challenges in different countries and made specific and actionable recommendations to ensure accountability and access to justice. .
The Independent Experts are part of what is referred to as the “special procedures” of the Human Rights Council. The Special Procedures, the most important body of independent experts in the UN human rights system, is the general term applied to the Council’s independent investigation and monitoring mechanisms that address specific situations countries or thematic issues anywhere in the world. Special procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and they do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent of governments and organizations and they exercise their functions in an independent capacity.
Source: UN Human Rights Council