Maldives has actively and presented constructive recommendations to 10 States reviewed at the 34th Session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) concluded at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The session continued for a period of two weeks November 4-15. The Maldives delegation provided recommendations to Italy, El Salvador, Gambia, Bolivia, Fiji, Kazakhstan, Iraq, Slovenia, Egypt and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Maldives was represented at the UPR Session by the Permanent Representative of Maldives to the United Nations Office at Geneva Ambassador Hala Hameed and Deputy Permanent Representative Hawla Ahmed Didi.
The UPR is a process which involves a review of the human rights records of all United Nations member states. The UPR is a state-driven process, under the auspices of the United Nations Human Rights Council, which 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.
The UPR Working Group holds three two-week sessions per year and currently, the UPR is holding its third cycle review which began in 2017 and will conclude on 2021. The 3rd cycle review of the Maldives will be held in April/May 2020 at the 36th Session of the Universal Period Review.