The South African official is one of five external independent members forming part of the Committee along with four IOC members.

The IOC Executive Board adopted a Strategic Framework on Human Rights at its meeting in September, which included a provision to create an Advisory Committee with responsibilities including providing "strategic advice and input on priority human rights topics and related activities".

Plans for an Advisory Committee on Human Rights were first announced in December 2018 to be chaired by former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.

The Strategic Framework on Human Rights was only approved in September 2022, two-and-a-half years after Prince Al Hussein and Rachel Davis produced a report entitled "Recommendations for an IOC Human Rights Strategy".

This included an objective to establish the Advisory Committee by the end of the year.

However, Prince Al Hussein opted not to continue as chair, with Mlambo-Ngcuka appointed as his replacement.

Mlambo-Ngcuka served as UN under-secretary-general and UN Women executive director from 2013 to 2021, following on from a stint as South Africa's Deputy Prime Minister from 2005 to 2008.

She was under-secretary-general during Ban Ki-moon's stint as UN secretary general, with the South Korean official since appointed to another key position within the IOC as chair of the Ethics Commission.

"I am a firm believer that we can only build a fair, safe and peaceful world if there is universal respect for equal rights of all human beings," Mlambo-Ngcuka said following her appointment.

"The respect of human rights must be inherent to the work of all organisations, and the IOC has fully understood this with the approval of its Strategic Framework on Human Rights.

"It is a privilege for me to provide guidance and deliver, together with the other eight members of the Advisory Committee, on the IOC’s commitment to respect human rights at all levels of its activities."

IOC President Thomas Bach commended Prince Al Hussein for his work, and believes Mlambo-Ngcuka is well-placed to hold the position.

"We are extremely pleased and honoured that Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has accepted to chair the IOC Advisory Committee on Human Rights," the German official said.

"Mrs Mlambo-Ngcuka has devoted her career to issues of human rights, equality and social justice, and her experience will help the IOC enhance respect for human rights across our three spheres of responsibility."

Prince Al Hussein offered his best wishes to Mlambo-Ngcuka, and said he was "glad that I could be part of the journey that led to the approval" of the Strategic Framework.

Former international Cycling Union Management Committee member and current Sport and Rights Alliance member Sylvia Schenk, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Business and Human Rights Unit chief officer Lene Wendland, Procter and Gamble chief human rights counsel Clare Iery and UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights member Seree Nonthasoot are the other independent members.

IOC members Ryu Seung-min of South Korea, Sarah Walker of New Zealand, Luis Alberto Moreno of Colombia and Dagmawit Girmay Berhane of Ethiopia complete the composition of the Advisory Committee.

The Committee is also tasked with advising the IOC Session, Executive Board and President on human rights matters, reviewing the Strategic Framework on Human Rights, advising on ways to minimise human rights risks in the context of the Olympic Games and Olympic Movement, suggesting major institutions for the IOC to support in achieving its human rights objectives, and advising on the interpretation of the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights.

Officials are expected to serve on the Committee for at least two years, although the IOC President is set to appoint members each year.

It is set to meet formally once each year.

The IOC Strategic Framework on Human Rights covers the "spheres" of the IOC as an organisation, owner of the Olympic Games and leader of the Olympic Movement.

Five areas of interest also form the basis of the framework - equality and non-discrimination, safety and wellbeing, livelihood, voices and privacy.

The IOC has faced criticism for its stance on human rights, including the awarding of the Winter Olympics and Paralympics to Beijing.

Concerns over China's treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, and its record in Tibet and Hong Kong, featured prominently in the build-up to Beijing 2022, and sparked a diplomatic boycott from Western nations including the United States, Australia, Britain and Canada.

Beijing consistently denied the charges laid against it, and dismissed a UN report in August that found "serious human rights violations" against Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang as a "politicised document that ignores the facts."

The IOC's handling of the concerns was criticised by human rights groups, but it consistently rebuffed calls to move the Games and insisted the organisation is neutral on political issues.

it has pointed to a clause on human rights introduced to the Host City Contract in 2019, first applicable from Paris 2024.