UN rights chief Zeid al-Hussein to visit Burundi

The UN high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, will begin a three-day visit to Burundi on Sunday, a UN spokesman announced here Friday.

"He is expected to meet with the president as well as a number of top officials," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here. "He will also visit the Humura Center for victims of domestic violence in Gitega."

"The high commissioner is expected to take part in a roundtable discussion on human rights and elections in Burundi next Wednesday, " he added.

Hussein assumed his functions as the UN high commissioner for human rights on Sept. 1, 2014, following the UN General Assembly's approval on June 16, 2014 of his appointment by UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon.

Hussein, a Jordanian national, is the seventh individual to lead the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights ( OHCHR) and the first Asian, Muslim and Arab to do so.