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rights upon the request of concerned Member States. Human rights training for international civil
servants who are assigned to work relating to human rights should be organized.
8. The World Conference on Human Rights welcomes the convening of emergency sessions of the
Commission on Human Rights as a positive initiative and that other ways of responding to acute
violations of human rights be considered by the relevant organs of the United Nations system.
Resources
9. The World Conference on Human Rights, concerned by the growing disparity between the activities
of the Centre for Human Rights and the human, financial and other resources available to carry them
out, and bearing in mind the resources needed for other important United Nations programmes,
requests the Secretary-General and the General Assembly to take immediate steps to increase
substantially the resources for the human rights programme from within the existing and future
regular budgets of the United Nations, and to take urgent steps to seek increased extrabudgetary
resources.
10. Within this framework, an increased proportion of the regular budget should be allocated directly
to the Centre for Human Rights to cover its costs and all other costs borne by the Centre for Human
Rights, including those related to the United Nations human rights bodies. Voluntary funding of the
Centre's technical cooperation activities should reinforce this enhanced budget; the World Conference
on Human Rights calls for generous contributions to the existing trust funds.
11. The World Conference on Human Rights requests the Secretary-General and the General Assembly
to provide sufficient human, financial and other resources to the Centre for Human Rights to enable it
effectively, efficiently and expeditiously to carry out its activities.
12. The World Conference on Human Rights, noting the need to ensure that human and financial
resources are available to carry out the human rights activities, as mandated by intergovernmental
bodies, urges the Secretary-General, in accordance with Article 101 of the Charter of the United
Nations, and Member States to adopt a coherent approach aimed at securing that resources
commensurate to the increased mandates are allocated to the Secretariat. The World Conference on
Human Rights invites the Secretary-General to consider whether adjustments to procedures in the
programme budget cycle would be necessary or helpful to ensure the timely and effective
implementation of human rights activities as mandated by Member States.
Centre for Human Rights
13. The World Conference on Human Rights stresses the importance of strengthening the United
Nations Centre for Human Rights.
14. The Centre for Human Rights should play an important role in coordinating system-wide attention
for human rights. The focal role of the Centre can best be realized if it is enabled to cooperate fully
with other United Nations bodies and organs. The coordinating role of the Centre for Human Rights
also implies that the office of the Centre for Human Rights in New York is strengthened.
15. The Centre for Human Rights should be assured adequate means for the system of thematic and
country rapporteurs, experts, working groups and treaty bodies. Follow-up on recommendations
should become a priority matter for consideration by the Commission on Human Rights.
16. The Centre for Human Rights should assume a larger role in the promotion of human rights. This
role could be given shape through cooperation with Member States and by an enhanced programme of
advisory services and technical assistance. The existing voluntary funds will have to be expanded
substantially for these purposes and should be managed in a more efficient and coordinated way. All
activities should follow strict and transparent project management rules and regular programme and
project evaluations should be held periodically. To this end, the results of such evaluation exercises
and other relevant information should be made available regularly. The Centre should, in particular,
organize at least once a year information meetings open to all Member States and organizations
directly involved in these projects and programmes.