UN rights chief seeks to establish presence in China and India, to ‘scale up engagement’
- A spokesman for Volker Turk said he had discussed the idea of new offices during meetings with Chinese and Indian governments but did not elaborate
- The UN human rights office, present in 95 countries since WWII, plays a key role in calling out abusers and working with countries to bring about change
The UN human rights chief called on Monday for greater support for his office as he seeks to expand its work by establishing a first-time presence in the world’s two most populous countries India and China, whose rights records are drawing more scrutiny.
The UN human rights office, established after World War Two, is present in 95 countries and its leader plays a key role in calling out suspected abusers as well as working with countries in question to bring about change.
Volker Turk, who took over as high commissioner in late 2022, used his opening speech to the UN Human Rights Council on Monday to urge greater cooperation and singled out states such as Syria, Iran, Israel and Russia that should do more.
“We would now like to scale up engagement”, he told the Geneva council at the opening of its four-week session, saying the world was at a “critical juncture” 75 years after adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“I also believe that it is important for us to establish a presence for the first time in China and India.”
There was no immediate response to a request for comment from China or India’s diplomatic mission in Geneva.