The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (M.F.A.T.) continues to host a series of consultations to prepare Samoa’s Universal Periodic Review (U.P.R.) report on human rights.

Samoa is scheduled to present virtually to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday 2 November 2021. 

M.F.A.T. is the Chair of the National Mechanism for Implementation, Reporting and Follow Up (N.M.I.R.F.) on human rights obligations.

In a statement issued by the Ministry it said that this is Samoa’s third time to report to the U.N.H.R.C., having submitted a national report which was presented to the Council in 2011 and 2016 respectively.

The U.P.R. is a process by which U.N. Member states report to the Council on the fulfilment of their human rights obligations and commitments, especially efforts made and the challenges faced in implementing the recommendations provided by the U.N.H.R.C. through its reporting process.

The process of consultations for the U.P.R. 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 or Office of the Ombudsman at the TATTE Conference Centre on 27 April.

This session focused on non-government organisations and groups that submitted reports through this process. The C.S.O. dialogue was followed by dedicated consultations from 27 April to 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 M.F.A.T. and the N.M.I.R.F. utilises other national consultations on relevant policies or related programmes to inform the review. The deadline for THE submission of the national report is 9 August 2021. 

Early this year a workshop was held to raise awareness and provide guidance to civil society organisations in preparing and compiling their submissions for the upcoming Universal Periodic Review. 

It was hosted by the Office of the Ombudsman which is also Samoa’s National Human Rights Institution [N.H.R.I.] in collaboration with SPC-RRRT (Pacific Community) and the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights in Fiji.