A Maldives delegation is set to participate at the 32nd Session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the Palace of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
The two-week session began on Monday and will conclude on February 1.
The 14 countries to be reviewed at the 32nd session are New Zealand, Afghanistan, Chile, Vietnam, Uruguay, Yemen, Vanuatu, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Comoros, Slovakia, Eritrea, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, and Cambodia.
According to the foreign ministry, the Maldives is represented at the session by Maldives’ Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva Dr. Hala Hameed, Deputy Permanent Representative Hawla Ahmed Didi, and First Secretary of the Permanent Mission Aishath Shahula.
The UPR Working Group holds three two-week sessions per year and is now holding its Third Cycle review of the countries.
The Maldives will be reviewed in April/May 2020 at the 36th Session of the Universal Period Review.
The UPR involves a periodic review of the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States. The United Nations Human Rights Council provides the opportunity for each State to declare actions taken to improve the human rights situations in their respective countries and to fulfil their human rights obligations.
With the objective to improve human rights situations in all countries, and also addressing violations of human rights wherever they may occur, the UPR mechanism is designed to give equal treatment to every country when their human rights situation is assessed.
