Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated Maldives will actively participate in the 35th Session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which commenced at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland today.
The session will continue for a period of two weeks and will conclude on January 31, 2020. The foreign ministry said in line with the priority Maldives accords to the United Nations Human Rights Council and its mechanisms, the delegation of Maldives will actively participate at this session of the Universal Periodic Review, and will present constructive recommendations to a number states that are under review during this cycle.
The Maldivian delegation at the 35th Session of UPR includes Permanent Representative of Maldives to the United Nations Office at Geneva Hala Hameed and Deputy Permanent Representative Hawla Ahmed Didi.
The Universal Periodic Review is a process which reviews the human rights records of all UN Member States. The UPR is a state-driven process, under the auspices of the UN Human Rights Council, which provides an opportunity for each State to declare actions taken to improve the human rights situations in their respective countries and fulfil their human rights obligations. The UPR mechanism gives equal treatment to every country when their human rights situation is assessed, with the objective of improving the human rights situations in all countries and addressing violations of human rights wherever they may occur.
The Universal Periodic Review Working Group holds three two-week sessions per year. Currently, the UPR is holding its third cycle review which began in 2017 and will conclude on 2021. The third cycle review of Maldives will be held on May 6, 2020 during the 36th Session of the Universal Period Review.