Fatma Zohra Ouhachi-Vesely (née Ksentini) is an Algerian woman who was the first United Nations special rapporteur on toxic wastes from 1995 to 2004. Prior to her position, she was a Special Rapporteur in the

Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities The Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (before 1999, known as the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities) was a think tank of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. It was wou ...

from 1989 to 1994.

Career

Ksentini was part of the

when she was named special rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment in 1989. For the

United Nations Commission on Human Rights The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. It was a subsidiary body of t ...

, she started a four-year investigation into environmental human rights in 1990. After completing her research in 1994, she submitted her findings and cosigned the Draft Declaration of Principles on Human Rights and the Environment. In 1995, Ksentini became the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Toxic Wastes. During the beginning of her tenure, she gathered information on the health effects of disposing toxic wastes. After submitting her report in 1997, Ksentini criticized the

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nati ...

for not providing her the necessary funding to conduct on the ground research. After being reappointed in 1998, Ksentini began developing proposals on the elimination of toxic waste disposals into developing countries. Her final term as Special Rapporteur started in 2001 and ended in 2004. Outside of her work as Special Rapporetur, Ksentini was the chairwoman of the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery in 1991.

Personal life

Ksentini was married to a Mr. Ouhachi-Vesely.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ksentini, Fatma Zohra United Nations special rapporteurs 20th-century Algerian women politicians Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Algerian politicians Algerian officials of the United Nations 21st-century Algerian women politicians 21st-century Algerian politicians