The Pacific Community’s (SPC) Human Rights and Social Development Division (HRSD) team visited PNG last week to provide technical support to the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Department for Justice & the Attorney General (DJAG) and the Department for Community Development and Religion (DFCDR) to assist in the establishment of a PNG Human Rights Commission (HRC).
A week-long workshop brought key stakeholders together, including Deputy Directors from DJAG and DFCDR, representatives from the Law Reform Commission and Ombudsman’s Office and SPC partner organisations the Asia Pacific Forum for NHRIs and OHCHR. A roadmap for establishment of the PNG HRC was developed through the week and several key working relationships, which will drive the initiative forwards, were agreed.
The outcomes reflected a renewed commitment towards the establishment of a Human Rights Commission in PNG, which would be a major achievement for the government, not least in realising SDG goal 16 and would also address several recommendations recently received from the United Nations Human Rights Council as part of its Universal Periodic Review.
HRSD Director, Miles Young, remarked “the establishment of a National Human Rights Institution is essential for all Pacific Island Countries, and we congratulate PNG in taking these steps towards realisation that goal.”
HRSD’s participation was welcomed by the PNG participants with one Deputy Director remarking that this international support would ‘build momentum and lend credibility’ around the establishment efforts. It also represented SPC’s efforts to engage more substantively with PNG and support large scale human rights initiatives and other development activities. The workshop was therefore also an opportunity for the team to discuss SPC’s new strategic plan with senior officials to explore additional future opportunities for technical assistance.
The request for technical assistance on the PNG HRC establishment resulted from consultations carried out under SPC’s PROJECT Governance – a USAID funded 5-year programme which seeks to build sound, just and responsive governance across the Pacific. HRSD’s participation was therefore made possible by the generous support of the American people through
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