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“When it comes to human rights, we need all hands on deck,” says new UN Human Rights Chief
17 October 2022
“Human rights are humanity’s common language,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk. “We need a human rights system that speaks to every human being.”
As he took office on 17 October as the UN’s eighth High Commissioner for Human Rights, Türk emphasized that he will “always be guided – first and foremost – by the impact our work has on the people that we serve.”
“There is no one-size-fits-all approach to every situation,” he said. “I hope to use every tool at our disposal to advance the human rights of all people.”
Türk said the mandate for the High Commissioner encompasses deep engagement with everyone, including governments, human rights defenders, civil society, as well as “very clearly speaking out when it is necessary.”
“I know how critical advocacy is for human rights,” he said. “It is so important in today’s world that there is a distinctive voice of conscience, reason and wisdom in a fragmented world. The High Commissioner for Human Rights has to be that voice, a High Commissioner who is not bound to any agenda except to the Charter of the United Nations, to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the whole human rights framework that exists.”
Türk said he did not see engagement and public advocacy as incompatible but rather mutually reinforcing.
“I don’t see these roles to be mutually exclusive. It means you have to advocate precisely to advance human rights everyone, everywhere in the world,” he said. “We need to work on human rights in a way that captures the imagination of people, of countries and of societies.”
Türk is also looking forward to engaging with youth as he has done in his previous roles at the UN – hoping to inspire young people in the same way they inspire him.
“I want to project an image of human rights that transforms us as a society, that shows us how we interact with each other, how we interact with communities, how we care for each other,” he said. “And that’s what human rights is. We need to transmit this to future generations and especially to young people today.”
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Human Rights has been my vocation, my passion. It’s been my lifelong path.
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Türk brings his substantial experience across all continents in human rights, international law and protection – including with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to the Office.
“I’ve spent 30 years of my life dedicated to defending the rights of some of the most vulnerable people on earth — refugees, stateless people, internally displaced people — but also people who are caught up in conflict and fragile settings,” he said. “And that work has exposed me to a microcosm of human suffering and human rights deprivation.”
Türk, a native of Austria, said his human rights calling started at 15, when he was introduced to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in school. He read about children his age who couldn’t go to school in rural areas in other parts of the world, making them extremely vulnerable. He also worked with homeless individuals in Austria, as well as with refugees and migrants. Türk pursued an education in international law, seeking to defend the rights of vulnerable communities – something he has continued to do both as a lawyer and in his various roles with the United Nations.
“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights touched me deeply,” he said. “It has resonated with me ever since.”
High Commissioner Volker Türk met Rohingya children at the Chakmarkul refugee settlement as UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection © UNHCR/Caroline Gluck
Defending the most vulnerable
As Under-Secretary-General for Policy in the Executive Office of the United Nations Secretary-General, Türk shaped the UN Secretary-General’s “Call to action for Human Rights,” which states human rights are essential to addressing broad causes and impacts all complex crises and is necessary “to build sustainable, safe and peaceful societies.” He was also instrumental in developing “Our Common Agenda”, which is essentially about effective, inclusive and network multilateralism.
He has held several top positions at UNHCR including as Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, both at headquarters and in the field such as Kuwait, the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Malaysia.
Türk said his experience working with refugees will help him in his role as High Commissioner, as he has had the opportunity to lead on important projects at UNHCR including advocacy work on a campaign to eradicate statelessness and one to promote alternatives to detention. He was also one of the leading designers of the Global Compact on Refugees.
“For the first time, the Global Compact really put into a multilateral framework what responsibility sharing means in today's world,” he said.
His experience at UNHCR has been invaluable, he explained, having worked with colleagues to help hundreds of people out of detention and saving lives by evacuating and resettling people. Türk has also stood up in court to defend the rights of refugees, stateless people, and internally displaced people and set up safe houses for women who have suffered sexual and gender-based violence.
“We helped make breakthroughs, to really change the lives of people,” he said.
During his time at UNHCR, High Commissioner Volker Türk visited the Mahama Refugee Camp in Rwanda with UNHCR © UNHCR/Samer Azam
Pushback on human rights
Türk said the pushback against human rights notably on gender issues and civic space happening across the globe is a major challenge we must overcome.
“We have seen an utter disregard for the human being and for communities in which they live,” he said. “It is absolutely clear that we need to regain the universality of human rights, the indivisibility of human rights, and we need to find a new energy that motivates young people around the world.”
He added that COVID-19 was a huge wake-up call for human rights by showing the importance of health and the right to health. He said it was unacceptable that it took such a long time to achieve progress on the vaccine issue and the inequities in the distribution of vaccines, which he referred to as vaccine nationalism.
“It should have been a no-brainer to have the whole world vaccinated within one year,” he said, adding that major challenges like the pandemic can only be resolved if States work together.
“We have also seen as a result of COVID, that everyone is interconnected both in the global north and in the global south,” he said. “These are important lessons to be learned because of the global inequities we face today, we really need to address them head on, including some of the big challenges of climate change and the environment.”
The High Commissioner stressed that promotion of human rights is a global effort, and everyone needs to play their part.
“It’s incredibly important that we share a belief in the cause, we engage with each other in a constructive way,” he said. “We are all part of the same ecosystem and a lot rests on us. The world at this stage when it comes to human rights, needs everyone to be on board, all hands on deck.”
Meet our new High Commissioner Volker Türk
Volker Türk begins his mandate as the 8th UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, bringing his considerable experience in and commitment to human rights.