The Office of the Ombudsman which is also Samoa’s National Human Rights
Institution in collaboration with SPC-RRRT (Pacific Community) and the Office of
the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Fiji hosted a capacity building
workshop for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Apia Friday, 12 February.
The workshop aimed to refresh and raise awareness among CSOs in Samoa about
the United Nations Human Rights Council’s (HRC) upcoming Universal Periodic
Review (UPR) and provide guidance to CSOs in preparing and compiling their
submissions or shadow reports to the UPR.
Director of Human Rights Loukinini Vili-Lewaravu said it was an opportunity for
CSOs to discuss best practices and better understand their involvement in the UPR
process.
“It is important to bring CSOs together remind them of the crucial role they
contribute to the reviewing process of Samoa and to discuss options for submitting
alternative submissions reports to the UPR in order for them to highlight their
issues in the most effective way. Ms. Vili-Lewaravu said.
Mr Ashley Bowe, Human Rights Adviser to the Pacific Community comments on
the importance of updating CSOs on best practices and technical guidelines on
report structures that are recommended by UN experts”
“It is always helpful to share experiences from the process – the challenges and
best practices as well as being familiar with reporting guidelines. SPC commends
the NHRI of Samoa in assisting CSOs with their drafting and ensuring there
continues to be a greater representation of CSOs in these UN processes”. Mr Ashley
Bowe said.
CSOs in Samoa have been invited to submit shadow submission reports to the UPR
by March 25 2021.
The UPR is a unique process which involves a review of the human rights records
of all UN Member States. It is a state-driven process which provides the
opportunity for each State to declare what actions they have taken to improve the
human rights situations in their countries and to fulfil their human rights
obligations.
Samoa’s third UPR is scheduled for November 2021.
