Human Rights Council - 15th Regular Session
Australian statement on the adoption of the report on the Universal Periodic Review of Kiribati
by H.E. Peter Woolcott, Permanent Representative
1 October 2010
Mr President
Australia commends the Government of Kiribati for the comprehensive and considered response to the recommendations made in the course of its Universal Periodic Review on 3 May this year. We should acknowledge that meeting this deadline was a major effort by Kiribati, given the small size of its public service and its limited resources.
Kiribati has shown its commitment to fundamental human rights and freedoms and to its active participation in the UN human rights machinery. It has accepted the majority of the 83 recommendations made in its UPR, and has agreed to consider many others. We are pleased that it accepted Australia’s three recommendations. Where it has not accepted the recommendations, these primarily relate to national capacity and resource constraints.
Australia also would commend you, Mr President, for the way in which you worked actively with the Kiribati Government to ensure the presentation of their response to the recommendations. Given the challenges relating to communications, distances and time differences, this was not a straightforward process.
The UPR appearance and follow-up process has been an enormous challenge for Kiribati, an archipelago stretching across the Pacific, with a total population of 112,000 people. Australia believes there is an important role for the Office of the HCHR in helping small states manage the UPR process, including assisting them in meeting their international obligations and deadlines. We believe that OHCHR needs to give much more thought to how they work with such nations, to ensure that they receive proper support and are able to meet these obligations. We look forward to further dialogue with the Office on how it proposes to assist small states in the future.