The Bahamas Plays a Leading Role in UN Establishing a CARICOM High Commissioner for Human Rights

On 12 October 2023, in Geneva, Switzerland, the United Nations Human Rights Council, adopted a historic resolution.  The resolution seeks to establish, for the first time, a regional office of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for the States Members of CARICOM, to be hosted in The Bahamas.  The mandate of the office is to provide dedicated technical assistance and capacity-building in the field of human rights.  The decision came further to the endorsement by the CARICOM Ministers of Foreign Affairs, earlier this month, for both the establishment of the Office and for The Bahamas to serve as its host.  This effort is aligned with statements made earlier this year by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Volker Türk, of his desire to scale up the engagement of OHCHR with CARICOM.

The resolution will facilitate the establishment of the office and the allocation of necessary resources to more comprehensively address the specific human rights challenges faced by the Small Island Developing States of CARICOM, including the protection of human rights in the context of climate change. 

The resolution was adopted at a crossroads of significant milestones in the history of The Bahamas and the region.  With CARICOM having recently celebrated its 50^th anniversary and The Bahamas having celebrated its 50^th year of independence and UN membership, this resolution represents an important step in ensuring that the States of CARICOM are not left behind.   Notably, the international community will also mark the 75^th year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in December of this year.