BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC—For the first time, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) has established a dedicated regional office in The Bahamas, headed by Barbadian Michelle Brathwaite.
The small island developing states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), including Barbados, led the establishment of the regional office.
In 2023, the Permanent Mission of the Bahamas led the submission of a resolution to the Human Rights Council. The resolution called for establishing a regional office, was endorsed by the CARICOM Ministers of Foreign Affairs, and was supported by the CARICOM Secretariat. It was adopted without a vote with some co-sponsors.
The office will be staffed by 16 regular budget positions with National Human Rights Officers stationed in Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Brathwaite, a national human rights officer at the UN Office in Barbados who has several years of experience supporting regional human rights policies, recently met with Caribbean ambassadors in Geneva.
During the meeting, a deep discussion was held on the human rights priorities and needs for the region, including support in the development of human rights legislation, implementation of
Universal Periodic Review recommendations and working on issues such as the human rights elements of foreign debt and climate justice.
Barbados’ Permanent Representative to the United Nations, World Trade Organisation, and other international organizations in Geneva, Matthew Wilson, who participated in the meeting,
welcomed the establishment of the regional office and the recruitment of Brathwaite as its head.
Wilson said: “Barbados looks forward to working closely with the regional office to follow up on our Universal Periodic Review commitments, build up more data collection techniques, and
better explore the interface between human rights and climate change, including support for the Bridgetown Initiative 3.0.”
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