Following the completion of OHCHR’s technical cooperation project in The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia at the end of 2006, OHCHR deployed a national human rights adviser with the aim of assisting the UN Country Team (UNCT) to incorporate human rights into programming. The Adviser works to increase the capacities of the UNCT and national actors to implement human rights norms and principles, align national human rights institutions with international standards and engage effectively with UN human rights mechanisms.
The Adviser’s engagement helped to improve State’s regularity of reporting and coordination of the implementation of recommendations. Government has strengthened a national coordination body on human rights while the civil society is increasingly informed and consulted by the State and provides views more regularly throughout the process. The Government assessed the progress towards implementing the recommendations from the Country’s 2009 Universal Periodic Review and reported on it to the UN Human Rights Council in February 2012. The Ombudsman applied for international accreditation and received recommendations for full alignment with the relevant international standards (Paris Principles).