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Obiora Okafor becomes UN independent expert

By Adelowo Adebumiti
07 December 2017   |   1:54 am
The United Nations Human Rights Council has appointed Prof. Obiora Okafor as the council’s Independent Expert.He has been given the mandate to develop, promote and shepherd to adoption, a draft declaration on the right of peoples and individuals ....

Prof. Obiora Okafor

The United Nations Human Rights Council has appointed Prof. Obiora Okafor as the council’s Independent Expert.He has been given the mandate to develop, promote and shepherd to adoption, a draft declaration on the right of peoples and individuals to international solidarity.

In 2005, the mandate of the independent expert on human rights and international solidarity was created and in 2014, the council extended the mandate for a further period of three years.

The council further extended it again by another period of three years in 2017 and appointed Okafor as the Independent Expert.
Speaking on the Draft Declaration on the right to International Solidary, Okafor said: “ This document is the result of years of research and thoughtful consideration by those who have held this mandate before me, as well as significant input from states, civil society, and leading scholar.

It is an extraordinary document, which presents a genuine practical tool for the expansion of international solidary and human rights around the world, with the ultimate goal of realising what was promised by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; a social and international order in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be realised.

Underlying the importance of resources to sustainable development, Okafor informed the UN that the Draft Declaration build on existing human right law requiring states to mobilise resources for the realization of human right, including through international cooperation and assistance.

He therefore called on all states to incorporate the vision of the Draft Declaration in their efforts as they strive for the completion of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 Agenda, in order to create a partnership that is truly global and development that is truly sustainable.

By committing to prepare a roadmap, Okafor promised to assist states in the process of adoption of the Draft Declaration by the Human Rights Council and by the General Assembly.

Okafor is the York Research Chair in International and Transnational Legal Studies (Senior Tier) a tenured Full Professor of Law at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, Toronto, Canada.

He has held the Gani Fawehinmi Distinguished Chair in Human Rights Law at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and served as a visiting professor at several universities and institutes around the world.

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