The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Mapping the Evolution of the Right to Health

Abstract

For over two decades, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has taken a leading role in promoting human rights around the world by supporting people in claiming their rights, assisting governments in fulfilling their human rights obligations, and building capacity to mainstream human rights throughout the United Nations (UN). While the OHCHR plays a vital role in supporting the UN human rights mechanisms—including the Human Rights Council (HRC), the Special Procedures, and the treaty bodies—this chapter focuses on the evolution of the right to health in the independent work of the OHCHR. It draws on: (1) archival records of OHCHR publications and initiatives related to health, (2) the annual reports of the High Commissioners on the activities of the OHCHR, and (3) semi-structured interviews with ten current and former OHCHR staff and ten external experts on the right to health. Part I provides a brief history of the OHCHR and an overview of the current structure and capacity of the OHCHR. Part II traces the influence of the six High Commissioners on the health-related rights agenda of the OHCHR. Part III outlines recent health-related initiatives at the OHCHR. Part IV then discusses factors that have facilitated or inhibited mainstreaming the right to health at the OHCHR over the past two-plus decades. The chapter concludes with reflections on the future of the right to health, and global health governance more generally, at the OHCHR.