AYV News, June 10, 2024
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in collaboration with the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights has held validation workshop on the 3rd Cycle Universal Periodic Review at the Bintumani Hotel, Aberdeen in Freetown.
The workshop brings together government institutions, such as the Human Right Commission, law makers, civil societies and members of the diplomatic community to track progress in realizing new benchmarks and precedents to help inform the country’s human rights policies.
In her welcoming note, the Director General and Ambassador at Large in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Dr Victoria M. Sulimani, said that the gains and challenges encountered during the previous cycle and the constructive engagement with development partners and civil society actors are worth commending.
Dr. Sulimani said that Sierra Leone as a signatory to several international human rights treaties, has the mandate to submit initial, midterm, or periodic reports on progress made in the implementation of those treaties to international human rights treaty bodies.
“Fulfilling our reporting obligations should be a constant commitment and an admirable goal that we all strive to achieve. Let us build our current achievements, look forward to the future, and establish a robust and prudent platform for our treaty reporting obligations…..as we remain compliant with our human rights reporting,” she said.
Giving the keynote address, the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Francess P. Algali, said that a National Reporting Mechanism has been set up and a Permanent Secretariat is now within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for the preparation and regular submission of reports to all human rights treaty mechanisms or bodies in fulfillment of the country’s international human rights treaty obligations such as the UPR.
The Acting Minister said that the UPR review since its establishment in 2006, has become an important feature of the UPR reporting and implementation cycles, and the validation workshop and its outcome would enable stakeholders to assess progress towards implementing the UPR 3rd Cycle recommendations.
She said that the Mid-term reports presents an opportunity for institutions and development partners to provide information on steps that they are taking towards implementation including advocacy and the provision of technical assistance required for the implementation of some of the recommendations.
“Since Sierra Leone’s first UPR Reporting Cycle in 2011, which I was part of, we had developed a matrix where recommendations were grouped into themes such as Treaty Ratification, Treaty Body Reporting, and Interaction with UN Human Rights Mechanisms, Constitutional and Legal Reforms, Incorporating Human Rights Standards into Domestic Law, Human Rights of Women and Girls, and Policy Formulation. This had laid a good foundation towards the monitoring and implementation of the UPR recommendations over the years and I am pleased that this best practice has continued,” the Acting Minister said.
Mrs Algali reiterated government’s commitment in the implementation of the recommendations.
She called on the international community and development partners to continue the fruitful engagements and the required support to move the UPR to the next stage.
She admonished civil society organizations to work with the government in making human rights a reality for all in Sierra Leone.
The Ireland Ambassador to Sierra Leone, Aidan Fitzpatrick commended progress made by Sierra Leone in the implementation of key recommendations over the years.
He however called on the government to pay attention to the area of freedom of expression, freedom of the press, assembly and human rights defenders.
Honorable Member of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, Alice Konia Sandy, assured the ratification of all pending human rights instruments in the House while they work closely with the Ministry.
The Chairperson for the Human Rights Commission Sierra Leone, Patricia Naasu Ndanema, highlighted achievements and progress made so far in the implementation of those recommendations.
Representative the UN Resident Coordinator, Ms Laurie Manderino, underscores the vital role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the coordination of human rights bodies.
She said that the UPR review mechanisms enable the government to evaluate and scrutinize public institutions human rights records, at the same time solicit funds for development purposes from international partners.
She stressed the importance of the three stages of the UPR review which include the preparation for the review, the National Implementation Strategy and the National Implementation Plan which are all crucial to the implementations of recommendations.
