Born in Quito, Ecuador, on 29 January 1932 José Ayala-Lasso became the first United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on 5 April 1994. He was appointed for a four-year term by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, with the unanimous approval of the General Assembly. Mr.Ayala-Lasso resigned on 15 March 1997 following his appointment as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador.

From 1977 to 1979, Mr. Ayala-Lasso served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador. As a career officer in the diplomatic service of Ecuador, he served as Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg, the European Economic Community (EEC) and Peru.

From 1989 to 1994, Mr. Ayala-Lasso was the Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the United Nations in New York and from 1991 to 1992, he was the Representative of Ecuador on the United Nations Security Council. He served as President of the Security Council in August 1991 and again in September 1992.

During the 48th session of the United Nations General Assembly in 1993, he chaired the working group which considered the establishment of the post of High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as other aspects of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted at the World Conference on Human Rights in 1993. The result was a consensus resolution (A/RES/48/141) creating the post.

Mr. Ayala-Lasso holds degrees in law and economics, international law, political and social sciences from la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, la Universidad Central del Ecuador and l'Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium. He has taught at el Instituto de Derecho Internacional of la Universidad Central del Ecuador.