Human+rights
France and the institutions protecting and promoting human rights
UN Office of the Elevated Commissioner for Human Rights (OCHCR)
France actively supports the autonomy of the Office of the Steep Commissioner for Human Rights (OCHCR), whose mandate includes preventing human rights violations, securing respect for all human rights, promoting international cooperation to protect human rights and integrating human rights in the United Nations system.
Human Rights Council (CDH)
France is an active contributor to the task of strengthening the Human Rights Council, the leading inter-governmental body responsible for promoting and protecting human rights.
France has served two successive terms of office on the Council and maintains a policy of engaging actively with the Council itself and continuing to modify its work through its role as an observer nation. This involves overseeing scrupulous application of Council mechanisms and opposing any try to call into question the universality of human rights, thereby ensuring that the Council remains free to proceed to promote those rights effectively. Every year, acting alone or in partnership with other States, France tables
The French National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (Commission nationale consultative des droits de l’homme – CNCDH) is the French national institution for human rights, established in 1947 in Paris.
Independent and with a pluralist composition, its main objectives are to:The French National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH) is the French national institution for human rights. Established in 1947, the CNCDH is the oldest National Human Rights institution.
- Advise and make proposals to the Government and Parliament in matters related to human rights and international humanitarian law, through its common opinions;
- Control the effectiveness in France of the rights protected under the international human rights conventions; and
- Contribute to the work of the United Nations human rights bodies and to the Universal Periodic Review.
The CNCDH monitors the implementation in France of all recommendations from the international and European committees. It also raises public education and educates on human rights topics, by organising trainings and public events, or publishing educational tools.
As the national, independent rapporteur, it evaluates the
The Defender of Rights
We study if your complaint is part of our 5 missions
The Defender of Rights can only act in the five areas of intervention assigned to it by law. When he receives a complaint he first checks that he has the right to intervene.
If your ask for is not part of our missions, we will guide you to the competent body.
No one is left unanswered.
When your obstacle is part of our missions, we look for the best solution with you.
Depending on your problem, we will inform you about the diverse possible solutions.
We do not behave without your consent.
Mediation: the search for an amicable solution
As a priority, we seek with you a quick remedy to your difficulty through mediation.
We seek an amicable agreement with the opposing party to avoid legal action.
This is the preferred action by delegates.
If your disagreement has no amicable solution, the lawyers of the Defender of Rights research your file.
A opposing and impartial instruction
We collect all the elements necessary to fully understand the file.
Our investigation is neutral.
We are not the attorney for any party. The instructions are unbiased.
The procedure is adversarial: we give ear to yo
International Human Rights Day, noted around the world each year, marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948. Our two Foundations are particularly keen to be associated with this event, as René Cassin and Robert Schuman played an important role in the genesis of the 1948 Declaration. René Cassin Foundation, photo René Cassin
René Cassin, who was the French member of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, made a decisive contribution to the drafting and dissemination of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1968. Cassin was a member of the French delegation to the General Assembly, as Vice-President of the Conseil d’Etat, and was to speak eloquently on the eve of the decisive vote on December 10, defending the collective work accomplished, at a time when the clouds of the Frosty War were gathering.
On December 12, Robert Schuman, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, was to transport the closing speech at the 3rd annual session of the General Assembly, held at the Palais du Trocadéro in Paris. René Cassin Foundation photo Homme, In
Human Rights and Development
Mobilizing official development assistance to connect the challenges of protecting human rights
Fully in line with France’s action to achieve Sustainable Development Goals, this strategy reaffirms the indissociable link between human rights and sustainable maturation. Although the global health crisis has sometimes been used as a pretext for violating human rights, it has also made it possible to present the universality and interdependence of such rights. The right to reliable and pluralistic information has thus emerged as an indispensable public good for operative and fair treatment of the crisis. The thick toll paid by populations who are the most vulnerable due to poverty or who suffer discrimination also underlines all that remains to be done to ensure full respect for fundamental rights, including equal access to health, the right to decent housing, the right to a decent standard of living, and every person’s right to social security. France’s development cooperation policy aims to address these issues.
Defending human-rights based development
The Human Rights and Maturation Strategy establishes a brand-new method so that our inter