OHCHR Annual Appeal includes missing Syrians
ERBIL, KRG, Iraq (North Press) – The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) presented its office’ 2022 Annual Appeal, which is calling for a total of $400,5 million to carry out its many human rights issues, including the issue of missing Syrians.
Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged the Member States and donors to support her office’s Rights Agenda.
“Amidst a period of massive global upheaval and crisis, this funding will be critical to protect, promote and uphold human rights in every corner of the world,” Bachelet said in the presentation of the Annual Appeal.
“We will continue to heavily engage on the issue of over 100,000 Syrian missing or detained people, as it will be an essential step towards peace and reconciliation.”
Support will include humanitarian issues in Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East.
Regarding Iraq, UN Office has trained some 200 human rights defenders, bloggers and journalists to strengthen the safety of digital and civic space amidst a context of online threats and attacks, according to the annual Appeal.
“My Office relies heavily on voluntary contributions, which last year represented around 62% of our overall budget,” Bachelet added.
In 2021, OHCHR launched an appeal for $385,5 million. 89 donors, including 59 member states, donated $227.4 million.
According to OHCHR, these amount of money were insufficient to respond to all requests for assistance, or to identified needs, given the additional needs created by crises such as the coronavirus and ongoing conflicts.
In late 2021, the Policy Coordination Team, supported by the International Commission on Missing Persons, adopted a proposed constitutional principles paper related to the issue of the missing in Syria, which will be presented to the concerned parties.
This paper addresses the legacy of systematic human rights violations in Syria, including the widespread practice of Enforced Disappearance, in addition to the need to establish guarantees to protect all persons from loss or disappearance.