Samoa’s Third Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Consultations
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) as the Chair of the National Mechanism for Implementation, Reporting, and Follow Up (NMIRF) on human rights obligations; continues to schedule a series of consultations to prepare Samoa’s UPR report which is scheduled to be presented virtually to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday 2nd of November 2021. This is Samoa’s third time reporting to the Council, having submitted a national report and presented to the Council in 2011 and 2016 respectively.
The UPR is a process by which UN Member states report to the Human Rights Council on the fulfilment of their human rights obligations and commitments, especially efforts made and challenges faced in implementing the recommendations provided by the Human Rights Council through the reporting process.
The process of consultations for the UPR report, is connected and thus a continuation of the consultations held in 2019 and 2020 on Samoa’s Second Voluntary National Review on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. More recently, a ‘UPR Dialogue Session with Civil Society Organisations,’ was held in partnership with the National Human Rights Institution/Office of the Ombudsman at the TATTE Conference Centre on Tuesday 27th April 2021. This session focused on Non Government Organisations and groups that submitted reports for this process. The CSO dialogue was followed by dedicated consultations from 27 April – 6 May. This was an important opportunity to discuss specific issues and recommendations raised through the different organisations’ reports. This approach allows for effective engagement of key stakeholders and will ensure more focused discussions by all relevant government Ministries on the issues raised and actions taken. The Ministry and the NMIRF utilises other national consultations on relevant policies or related programmes to inform the review. The deadline for submission of the national report is 9 August 2021.
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