Computerization of the work of human rights treaty-monitoring bodies in relation to reporting systems.
| Publisher | UN Commission on Human Rights |
| Author | UN Commission on Human Rights (46th sess. : 1990 : Geneva) |
| Publication Date | 23 February 1990 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | E/CN.4/RES/1990/21 |
| Reference | 46 |
| Cite as | UN Commission on Human Rights, Computerization of the work of human rights treaty-monitoring bodies in relation to reporting systems., 23 February 1990, E/CN.4/RES/1990/21, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3b00f0cac.html [accessed 23 October 2022] |
1990/21. Computerization of the work of human rights treaty monitoring bodies in relation to reporting systems
The Commission on Human Rights, Considering that the effective functioning of treaty monitoring bodies established pursuant to United Nations human rights instruments, including the consideration of periodic reports of States parties, is essential for monitoring the implementation of those instruments and for the realization of the aims and objectives enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Recalling the many resolutions of the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and the Commission an Human Rights affirming the importance of the effective implementation of United Nations human rights instruments in promoting universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms, Reiterating its deep concern over the delays in submission of national reports by States parties to those instruments and in the consideration of reports by treaty bodies, Recalling also that the meeting of persons chairing human rights treaty bodies, held at Geneva from 10 to 14 October 1988, considered it essential, in addressing those problems, to make use of the opportunities provided by computerization and recommended the appointment of a task force on computerization (see E/CN.4/1989/62, annex), Recalling further that the General Assembly, in its resolution 43/115 of 8 December 1988, requested the Commission on Human Rights, in view of its overall responsibilities in the field of human rights, to consider at its forty-fifth session, as a matter of priority, the conclusions and recommendations of the meeting of persons chairing human rights treaty bodies, in particular those identified as matters requiring urgent action, and to report to the Assembly at its forty-fourth session, through the Economic and Social Council, Having considered at its forty-fifth session:(a) The importance of urgently needed measures to assist States parties to human rights instruments to fulfil their reporting obligations,
(b) The need for rationalizing the entire reporting and monitoring systems,
(c) The rapidly increasing work load of the Centre for Human Rights in respect of treaty implementation as well as the need for the Centre to assist both the States parties and the treaty monitoring bodies,
Recalling its resolution 1989/46 of 6 March 1989, by which it requested the Secretary-General to consider appointing, within existing resources, a task force composed of a limited number of experts, including one or more computer experts, to prepare a study on computerizing, as far as possible, the work of the treaty monitoring bodies in relation to reporting, with a view to enhancing efficiency and facilitating compliance by States parties with their reporting obligations and the examination of the reports by the treaty bodies, and to report to the Commission on Human Rights at its forty-sixth session on the result of the work, Taking note of General Assembly resolution 44/135 of 15 December 1989 by which the Assembly, inter alia, welcomed the appointment by the Secretary-General of a task force to prepare a study on computerizing, as far as possible, the work of the treaty monitoring bodies, Having considered the report of the Secretary-General (E/CN.4/1990/39) on the results of the study undertaken by the Task Force on Computerization,1. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary General;
2. Takes note of the study on computerizing the work of the human rights treaty monitoring bodies in relation to reporting, prepared by the Task Force on Computerization (E/CN.4/1990/39, annex);
3. Suggests that the proposed system take advantage of and be complementary to the existing computer and optical disk equipment already functioning within the various sections of the United Nations Office at Geneva, particularly that provided by a generous contribution of a Member State;
4. Approves the recommendations of the Task Force contained in chapter IV of the study and concurs with its analysis of the impact of the proposed system on the work of the treaty-monitoring bodies in relation to reporting as described in chapter V of the study;
5. Recommends to States Members of the United Nations, in particular those States which are parties to United Nations human rights instruments, to make generous contributions to cover the estimated initial, one time only, cost of the proposed system (see E/CN.4/1990/39, para. 63), and to enable the Secretary-General to implement the recommendations of the Task Force;
6. Draws the attention of the Economic and Social Council and through it the attention of the General Assembly to the study undertaken by the Task Force, in particular to chapters IV and V of the study;
7. Strongly recommends that the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly approve the annual recurrent cost of the system (see E/CN.4/1990/39, para. 63) and authorize the inclusion of the annual recurrent cost in the programme budget for the biennium 1992 1993 budget when the proposed system is expected to become operational;
8. Stresses that the proposed system should be introduced in a way that is compatible with longer term plans for computerization of the United Nations Office at Geneva and as the first step in computerization of the entire human rights programme;
9. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Commission on Human Rights at its forty-seventh session on the progress made in the implementation of the present resolution;
10. Decides to consider the report of the Secretary-General at its forty-seventh session under the agenda item "Effective functioning of bodies established pursuant to United Nations human rights instruments".
38th meeting23 February 1990
[Adopted without a vote. See chap. XVIII.]
