U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's pledges to halt the separation of migrant families, address "systemic racism" and climate change are promising and could reverse setbacks during the Trump administration, the U.N. human rights chief said on Wednesday.

"He has made a series of promising pledges like the protection for child arrivals - and I think that's fantastic that they will stop the family separation - and of course all the issues with the frontier, the border with Mexico," Bachelet told a news conference in Geneva.

"If those pledges are implemented I think they will have a positive impact on human rights in the U.S. and globally. They could also reverse policies carried out in the Trump administration which have led to serious setbacks for human rights including the rights of women, of LGBT persons, migrants or journalists," she said.