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United Nations

Source: UN

The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945 with 193 Member States. The UN and its work are guided by the purposes and principles of its founding UN Charter. The UN has evolved over time but remains the one organisation where all the world’s nations can gather, discuss common problems, and find shared solutions.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs) adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet. The 17 SDGs and 169 targets demonstrate the scale and ambition of this universal Agenda. They seek to realise the human rights of all and to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. They are integrated and indivisible and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and environmental.

The United Nations has adopted a wide range of international treaties, including the world’s nine core international human rights instruments. 

The Ombudsman monitors and promotes the effective implementation of signed and ratified international human rights instruments, including making proposals and recommendations to the National Assembly and the Council of Ministers for signing and/or ratifying international human rights instruments.

The institution monitors (together with other national institutions) the implementation in Bulgaria of UN international instruments on the following topics (in chronological order of their adoption): 

  1. Elimination of Racial Discrimination – ICERD
  2. Civil and Political Rights – ICCPR
  3. Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – ICESCR
  4. Elimination of Discrimination against Women – CEDAW
  5. Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment – CAT
  6. Rights of the Child – CRC
  7. Rights of Migrant Workers and Their Families – ICMW
  8. Protection from Enforced Disappearance – CPED
  9. Rights of Persons with Disabilities – CRPD

1. Elimination of Racial Discrimination – ICERD

The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) is a key UN international treaty adopted in 1965 that affirms the right to equality and dignity for all. It prohibits racial discrimination in all fields of public and private life and establishes the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) to monitor and review State compliance with the Convention. Unfortunately, racism persists in many forms today. It has made a fundamental contribution to the fight against racial discrimination, racial segregation and apartheid, and to achieving equality without distinction based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin.

Bulgaria has committed to eliminate all forms of discrimination from different legal sources: the UN system (ICERD and other UN Conventions), the Council of Europe (Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights and other Council of Europe Conventions, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance - ECRI) and the EU (Art. 20-23 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, the Treaties and subsequent strategic documents). Bulgaria voluntarily participates in monitoring mechanisms, such as with the ICERD Committee (UN), the ECRI (Council of Europe), initiatives linked with the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights – FRA (EU). 

The Ombudsman continues to monitor the respect for human rights of all ethnicities under the ICERD, closely monitoring the long-standing concerning practice of forced evictions and arbitrary destruction of property by the state. 

2. Civil and Political Rights – ICCPR

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 16 December 1966, and entered into force on 23 March 1976. As of May 2012, the Covenant has been ratified by 167 countries. The Covenant further develops the civil and political rights and freedoms listed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Under Article 1 of the Covenant, the parties undertake to promote the right of self-determination and to respect that right. It also recognizes the rights of peoples to freely own, trade, and dispose of their natural wealth and resources.

The Covenant is legally binding. The UN Human Rights Committee (established under Article 28) monitors its implementation. The first optional protocol establishes individual complaint mechanisms for the ICCPR. As of May 2012, the protocol has been ratified by 114 countries. The second optional protocol entered into force in 1991 and aims to abolish the death penalty.

The Ombudsman monitors compliance with the civil and political rights enshrined in the Covenant, which are also enshrined in subsequent UN conventions.

3. Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – ICESCR

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) was adopted in 1966 and has been in force since 1976. The implementation of the Covenant is monitored by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which issues periodic reports with recommendations to Bulgaria.

In accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), the covenants affirm that "[...] the ideal of free human beings enjoying civil and political freedom and freedom from fear and want can only be achieved if conditions are created in which everyone can enjoy their civil and political rights, as well as their economic, social, and cultural rights." 

The Ombudsman monitors compliance with the civil and political rights enshrined in the Covenant, which are also enshrined in subsequent UN Conventions.

4. Elimination of discrimination against women – CEDAW

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is an international legal instrument that requires states to eliminate discrimination against women and girls in all spheres and promotes their equal rights. It was adopted on 18 December 1979 and entered into force on 3 September 1981. The Convention provides a framework for achieving equality between women and men by ensuring women's equal access and opportunities in political and public life—including the right to vote and be elected—as well as in education, health care, and employment.

In the EU and Bulgaria, there are various forms of legislation and policies on gender equality. Despite significant achievements, many women and girls around the world still face discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation. Gender inequality is at the root of many problems that disproportionately affect women and girls, such as gender-based violence, lower pay, lack of equal access to education, ineffective health services, and the negative impact of climate change and digitalization. That is why women's rights are identified as a separate group of rights from the general context of human rights—they require separate measures and effective protection, in line with needs and taking into account multiple discrimination (on several grounds simultaneously).  The Convention Committee issues periodic reports with recommendations to Bulgaria.

More information on the Ombudsman's monitoring of this Convention can be found here:

5. Against torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment

The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) was adopted by the United Nations on 10 December 1984, and entered into force on  26 June 1987. It aims to unite states in their fight against torture by taking positive action to prevent it, requiring them to criminalize torture as a form of crime in their national legislation. The Convention establishes an international mechanism for monitoring the implementation of its provisions—the UN Committee Against Torture—and two types of obligations for states: positive and negative obligations. Negative obligations require each state to refrain from violating human rights, and all acts that have the characteristics of torture should be criminalized and prosecuted as crimes under domestic law. Positive obligations are related to taking specific measures to prevent, in this case, torture (legislative, administrative, judicial, providing training for staff in places of deprivation of liberty, etc.). If the prohibition of torture is violated, states should ensure that victims receive fair and adequate compensation. 

On 18 December 2002, the UN adopted the Optional Protocol to the Convention, which entered into force on 22 June 2006. It aims to strengthen protection and establish a preventive system, including through the creation and maintenance of an independent national preventive mechanism (NPM) to prevent torture and ill-treatment. 

With the amendments and additions to the Ombudsman Act in 2012, the Ombudsman began to perform the functions of the NPM in accordance with the Optional Protocol to the Convention. The Ombudsman conducts annual monitoring of places of imprisonment under the Ministry of Justice, places of detention under the Ministry of the Interior (MVR), special accommodation centers for foreigners under the Migration Directorate and the registration and reception centers of the State Agency for Refugees at the Council of Ministers, residential social services for children and adults, and state psychiatric hospitals. The Committee Against Torture issues periodic reports with recommendations to Bulgaria.

In the 10 years since then, the Ombudsman has carried out over 700 inspections, each accompanied by public reports on the irregularities found and three times as many recommendations to the responsible institutions, the executive and the legislature. 

More information on the Ombudsman's monitoring of this Convention can be found here:

6. Children's Rights – CRC

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the most widely accepted human rights instrument, ratified by all countries in the world except two. The Convention includes the full range of human rights for children in a single document (civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights). The Convention was adopted by the UN on 20 November 1989, and entered into force in September 1990.

The CRC is the first international human rights treaty to regulate the rights of all children, based on four principles: non-discrimination, acting in the best interests of the child, the right to life, survival, and development, and respect for the views of the child, in accordance with their age and maturity. These principles should guide the actions of all stakeholders, including children themselves, to realize their rights to survival, development, protection, and participation. 

This international document sets the task for states to create the necessary policies and conditions to ensure that all children have equal access to their rights. The Convention on the Rights of the Child elevates the recognition of the human dignity of children and raises the issue of ensuring their well-being and development as an urgent necessity. It regulates the right of the child to be respected in an indisputable and unique way, because childhood is an important and essential period of human life.

In Bulgaria, the Convention has been in force since June 1991 and, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria, is part of domestic law. Article 4 of the Convention obliges the States Parties to "take all necessary legislative, administrative, and other measures to implement the rights recognized in the Convention."

The Ombudsman monitors our country's progress in implementing the UN Convention and its optional protocols, as well as the measures taken by national institutions on the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC Committee).

More information on the Ombudsman's monitoring of this Convention can be found here:

7. Rights of migrant workers and their families – ICMW

The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (ICMW) regulates the rights of all migrant workers and protects their families. The convention was adopted by the UN in 1990 and entered into force in 2003.

This convention is part of international human rights law, and its preamble recalls the conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO) on migrant workers and forced labor. Its aim is to protect the rights of migrant workers who are not citizens of the country of stay, which is why they are often subjected to worse working conditions or become victims of human trafficking. Bulgaria has not ratified this Convention.

8. Protection from enforced disappearance – CPED

The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance was adopted by the UN on 20 December 2006, and entered into force on 23 December 2010. The Convention is monitored by the Committee on Enforced Disappearances, elected by the participating states. The parties are required to report to this committee on the measures they have taken to implement it within two years of signing it.

The Convention includes an optional complaints system through which citizens of the parties can turn to the Committee for assistance in searching for missing persons. Parties may join this system at any time, but may choose not to participate in it upon signing. The Convention prohibits enforced disappearances; no exceptional circumstances (such as a state of war or threat of war, internal political instability, or other exceptional situations) may be invoked as a justification for enforced disappearance. "Enforced disappearance" is defined in Article 2 of the Convention as the arrest, detention, abduction, or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which places such a person outside the protection of the law. The widespread or systematic use of enforced disappearance is further defined as a crime against humanity in Article 6. Bulgaria has not ratified this Convention.

9. Rights of persons with disabilities – CRPD

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was adopted by the United Nations on 13 December 2006, and entered into force on 3 May 2008. Its purpose is to promote, protect, and ensure the full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. It is based on the principles of respect for dignity, non-discrimination, participation and inclusion, respect for diversity, equal opportunities, accessibility, equality between men and women, and respect for children. Under the CRPD, states must take a number of measures, with the active participation of persons with disabilities, to ensure and promote the full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all persons with disabilities, without discrimination of any kind.

On 1 January 2019, pursuant to Article 11, paragraph 1 of the Persons with Disabilities Act (PDA), a Monitoring Council was established to perform the functions of promoting, protecting, and monitoring the implementation of the CRPD, in accordance with Article 33, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the CRPD. The Monitoring Council consists of nine members, including two representatives appointed by the Ombudsman. The Monitoring Council's activities are administered by the Ombudsman and the Commission for Protection against Discrimination on a rotating basis for a term of two years. In the period 2019–2021, the Ombudsman was the first chair of the Monitoring Council for the National Policy for Persons with Disabilities.

More information on the Ombudsman's monitoring of this Convention can be found here:

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