New Burma UN HRs envoy appointed

06 March 2014: Ms. Yanghee Lee, 58, from the Republic of Korea, is appointed to replace Tomas Ojea Quintana, the outgoing UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burma.

The announcement came this week as Baudelaire Ndong Ella, President of the UN Human Rights Council, made a decision although the new appointment is yet to be officially confirmed tomorrow.

She will assume her new position as the UN Human Rights envoy to Burma if there is no objection by the close of business in Geneva, Switzerland this Friday.

Ms. Lee, who completed her Ph.D in Early Childhood in USA, has served as Chairperson of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child since May 2007.

Despite positive changes happening in the country, Burma is still witnessing gross ongoing human rights violations and abuses, especially in ethnic areas.

In his final statement last month, Mr. Quintana also indicated that Burma still needs to address a number of issues that ‘could jeopardize the entire reform process’.#