Geneva - The European Union has praised the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Mary Robinson, who announced recently she would not seek a second term in office. Citing the EU's "profound gratitude" to Mrs Robinson and its "sincere regrets over her decision", Mr Jean-Marie Noirfalisse of Belgium said that during her tenure, she had established her office as a "true hub and universal home for human rights issues". Speaking in Geneva, Mr Noirfalisse said: "Human rights are now being mainstreamed into all activities and programmes of the United Nations and the number of organisations applying a human rights perspective on their programmes and activities has increased considerably in the last years."
Mr Noirfalisse referred particularly to Mrs Robinson's commitment to combating racism and xenophobia, the "even-handed and impartial" approach she adopted to human rights issues in East Timor, Kosovo and the Middle East, as well as her efforts to effect a "rights-based approach to the eradication of poverty in its extreme forms" and to the realisation of economic, social and cultural rights.