Consultations have already taken place among all agencies and programmes of the United Nations, leading to strategies and campaigns being devised. Since the inception of the United Nations, the promotion and protection of human rights have been at its very core. Reference to the promotion of and respect for human rights was made in Article 1 of the United Nations Charter and in the establishment of a commission for the promotion of human rights, mentioned in Article 68 of the Charter. Over the years, the United Nations has created a wide range of mechanisms for monitoring human rights violations. In recent years, a number of field offices have been opened at the request of Governments, inter alia , to assist in the development of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights and to conduct education campaigns on human rights.
Challenges still lie ahead, despite many accomplishments in the field of human rights.
Many in the international community believe that human rights, democracy and development are intertwined. Unless human rights are respected, the maintenance of international peace and security and the promotion of economic and social development cannot be achieved. The world is still plagued with incidents of ethnic hatred and acts of genocide. People are still victims of xenophobic attitudes, are subjected to discrimination because of religion or gender and suffer from exclusion. Around the world, millions of people are still denied food, shelter, access to medical care, education and work, and too many live in extreme poverty.