The government of the Maldives has revealed its delegation will actively engage in the 42nd Session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) that commenced at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, on January 13. The session will continue for a period of two weeks and will conclude on February 3.
In line with the government’s key policies and priorities, the Maldives delegation will present constructive recommendations to all 13 states that will be reviewed at the session. The 13 countries under review are Argentina, Benin, Czechia, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, Peru, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, and Zambia.
The Permanent Representative of the Maldives to the United Nations (UN) Offices in Geneva Dr. Asim Ahmed, in his capacity as the Vice President of the Human Rights Council, will be chairing some of the reviews that would take place at the session. The delegation led by Dr. Asim also includes Deputy Permanent Representative of the Maldives Mission Hawla Ahmed Didi, Counsellor at the Maldives Mission Hassan Hussain Shihab, Counsellor at the Maldives Mission Aminath Shifaya Ibrahim and Second Secretary at the Maldives Mission Maryam Fathika Fayaz,
The UPR is a State-driven process which involves a review of the human rights record of all UN member states. The process provides the States under review with the opportunity to declare actions taken to improve the human rights situations in their respective countries and allows fellow member states to provide commendations for these actions and constructive recommendations on how the States can further fulfill their human rights obligations. The UPR mechanism is designed to give equal treatment to every country when their human rights situation is assessed, with the objective of improving human rights situations in all countries.
The UPR Working Group holds three session every year. The Fourth Cycle review of the UPR began in November 2022 and will conclude in 2027.