Joint webinar on Papua New Guinea

Organized by the International Catholic Center of Geneva (CCIG), in collaboration with the Dominicans for Justice and Peace, Edmund Rice International (ERI) and the Marist Foundation for International Solidarity (FMSI), the side event ‘Safeguarding Human Rights in Papua New Guinea: Addressing Implementation of UPR recommendations’ took place on 24th November 2024, following the 39th session of the Working Group of Universal Periodic Review. This event was facilitated by the support from the City of Geneva and Misean Cara. It was co-sponsored by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Catholic Bishop Conference in PNG, Caritas Internationalis, Istituto Internazionale Maria Ausiliatrice and Ozeanien-Dialog.

This event is conducted within the frame of a larger scale project developed by the CCIG, the Dominicans for Justice and Peace, ERI and FMSI as well as a coalition of sixteen civil society organisations based in Papua New Guinea.

The project, entitled ‘Papua New Guinea: Human rights enhancement through the Universal Periodic Review Project’ started in December 2020 and aimed at strengthening the capacity of local civil society to report, monitor and follow-up the most pressing issues in Papua New Guinea through the Universal Periodic Review. This initiative was made possible by the fund support provided by the Ville de Genève and Misean Cara.

The project specifically aimed at addressing issues related to the rights of women, children and people with disabilities and environmental protection. As a unique State-driven process during which the human rights record of all 193 UN Member States is reviewed once every four and a half years, the UPR provides a great opportunity to bring forward human rights issues in Papua New Guinea to the attention of the International community.