The full membership of the Committee, chaired by former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, was originally due to be confirmed at the IOC Executive Board meeting here.

This has, however, been put on hold while Prince Zeid and Rachel Davis, the managing director of Shift - a non-profit centre of expertise on business and human rights based in New York City - come up with the framework and guidelines for what the Committee should look to achieve.

The process is expected to last for at least the rest of this year, delaying the work of the Committee until the start of 2020 at the earliest.

The decision was made in a meeting between IOC President Thomas Bach and Prince Zeid, a Jordanian appointed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in September 2014 but who decided not to seek another four-year term in 2018 after he raised concerns about the state of the human rights movement.

"Both agreed that prior to the Committee commencing work, it was necessary and more effective to devise a strategic framework on human rights for the IOC," the IOC said in a statement. 

"After that, the Committee members would then be able to reflect and advise on the strategy."

The aim of the Committee is to help the IOC identify risks and guide its strategy on human rights.

The transgender policy within the Olympic Movement - which has caused confusion and controversy owing to the complexity of the issue - is among the initial areas where the new group is expected to provide advice.

Political discrimination against athletes unable to compete at major events in the same manner as other nations is among the other areas which could eventually be looked at by the Committee.

The IOC has been criticised for awarding the Olympic Games to countries such as China, which staged the 2008 Summer Games and is due to host the 2022 winter edition of the event.

Human Rights Watch claimed the internment of hundreds of thousands of Muslims in centres in Western China involved "arbitrary detention, torture and mistreatment".

The IOC did incorporate human rights elements into the Host City Contract last year, which will first apply to Paris 2024. 

In September 2015, not specifically mentioning human rights in its Host City Contract for the 2024 Games was described as an "astonishing omission" on the IOC's part and one that did not live up to the expectations created by the Agenda 2020 reform process.