Professor Giorgi Pkhakadze, Head School of Public Health,David Tvildiani Medical University attending the Expert Group Meeting on the application of a human rights-based approach to policies and programmes to reduce preventable maternal mortality and morbidity in humanitarian settings at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland (7-8 May 2019)
In September 2018, the Human Rights Council adopted resolution 39/10 on preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and human rights in humanitarian settings. The resolution requested the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), “in collaboration with the Inter-agency Working Group on Reproductive Health in Crises, the United Nations Population Fund, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and other United Nations specialized agencies, funds and programmes, international human rights mechanisms, entities providing humanitarian assistance and civil society organizations, to organize a two-day meeting in 2019 to discuss good practices, gaps and challenges in the application of a human rights-based approach to the implementation of policies and programmes to reduce preventable maternal mortality and morbidity in humanitarian settings, and to submit a summary report thereon to the Human Rights Council at its forty-second session”.
The expert meeting bring together 30 experts representing different stakeholders, including United Nations agencies and entities providing humanitarian assistance, the Inter-Agency Working Group on Reproductive Health in Crises, relevant cluster coordination leads and accountability mechanisms, research institutions, and civil society experts, including first responders. Specific interest, expertise and/or experience in advancing the application of a human rights-based approach in humanitarian settings have been taken into consideration in selecting the invited experts.
OHCHR will prepare and publish a summary report on the expert group meeting, containing good practices and recommendations addressed to all actors, as requested by the Human Rights Council resolution 39/10. The report will be submitted to the Human Rights Council at its 42nd session. This report will also feed into on-going collaborative processes between all stakeholders to advance a holistic, integrated approach and strengthen the operationalization of a human rights-based approach in humanitarian settings.