The office was established by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 December 1993[4] in the wake of the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights.

The eighth and current High Commissioner is Volker Türk of Austria, who succeeded Michelle Bachelet of Chile on 8 September 2022.

[7] The mandate of OHCHR derives from Articles 1, 13 and 55 of the Charter of the United Nations, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action and General Assembly resolution 48/141 of 20 December 1993, by which the Assembly established the post of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The core functions of the Staff Office are to: The Administrative Section is headed by a Chief, Kyle F. Ward, who is accountable to the Deputy High Commissioner.

The core functions of the New York Office are to: The Thematic Engagement, Special Procedures and Right to Development Division is headed by a Director who is accountable to the High Commissioner.

In some cases, after obtaining their name in advance from the UN, the Chinese Communist Party made sure an activist was not able to leave China for Geneva to attend.