Human Rights Advisors are deployed through an agreement between the Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR) and the Resident Coordinator in order to respond to a specific need for human rights expertise in the country. Human Rights Advisors have the primary responsibility of providing technical assistance to the government, ensuring that human rights are integrated into the activities of the UN agencies in country, and providing information and support to civil society groups that work on human rights issues.  With the UN Country Team, the Advisors are members of the UNCT and work closely with the Resident Coordinator and UN agencies, advising and supporting strategies and policies to protect and promote human rights and build human rights capacity within local institutions, civil society and the UN itself.  Unlike when OHCHR has an Office in country, a human rights advisor placed within the UN Country Team does not monitor, investigate or engage in public reporting on human rights violations in the country where he or she works.

In the case of Sri Lanka, in April 2002, at the request of the Prime Minister, the Secretary-General fielded a high level needs-assessment mission to Sri Lanka. The mission was carried out jointly by the UNDP, UNICEF, UNHCR, OCHA, OHCHR and DPA.  The outcome of the mission was a series of recommendations for immediate UN socio-economic and peace-building efforts including the deployment of an OHCHR Senior Human Rights Advisor to the United Nations Country Team (UNCT). The first OHCHR Senior Human Rights Advisor (SHRA) was deployed to the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office on 1 June 2004, and there have been 3 SHRA following the initial deployment.