Male’, Maldives – With the adoption of the Maldives’ Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review on Friday, at the 36th Session of the UPR Working Group, the country has concluded the third cycle review of the Maldives which took place from 4th to 6th November 2020.
The adopted report encompasses a total of 259 recommendations given by the 95 Member States at the review session of Maldives which took place on 4th November 2020, Wednesday.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, during the interactive dialogue, all 95 member states listed to speak at the session, commended the Maldives on the progress made by the current administration in enhancing the governance and legislative framework, implementing judicial reform and the protection of vulnerable groups.
The recommendations received mainly focuses on the areas of governance, ratifying international human rights instruments and urging the government to continue the efforts in the area of gender equality and child protection, combatting human trafficking and addressing climate change, a statement by the Attorney General’s Office read.
Maldives is required to give a position on these recommendations by 14th December 2020, which will be done after consulting with relevant stakeholders as well as after reference to the constitution of the country, and the tenets of Islam.
This is the first time the country participated at the UPR with a high-level delegation consisting of multiple cabinet Ministers, in which themetic interventions were delivered, highlighting the progress made by the country in terms of protections and promotion of human rights, and key policies being implemented as well as the plans within the Strategic Action Plan (SAP) of Maldives.
The UPR sessions, which is a process that involves a periodic review of the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States, began on the 2nd of November, and will go on until the 13th of this month, reviewing a total of 14 countries.
The UPR was established when the Human Rights Council was created on 15 March 2006 by the UN General Assembly in resolution 60/25. This mandated the Council to undertake a universal periodic review, based on objective and reliable information, of the fulfilment by each State of its human rights obligations and commitments in a manner which ensures universality of coverage and equal treatment with respect to all States.
