Window 1: 1 Governance and Crisis Management

UNCP Outcome 1: Government develops and implements effective governance and crisis management policies and strategies

1.4 Protection and Advocacy of Human Rights

Intermediate Outcome 4: Government is aware of, respects, and provides for people’s human rights while it empowers citizens to demand the protection of those rights from government.

UN comparative advantage

Promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is one of the four main purposes of the UN. As the universally-accepted “guardian” of human rights, the UN has established seven human rights treaty bodies that monitor the implementation of the core international human rights treaties and an inter-agency Human Rights Task Force to promote dialogue on human rights issues and facilitate the introduction of a human rights-based approach to programming. In Papua New Guinea, UNDP and UNV have provided support to the Department of Justice and Attorney General (DJAG), the Ombudsman’s Commission and the Department of Community Development (DCD), while UNICEF has provided support on the application of child-related rights, particularly deriving from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and human rights education at the University of Papua New Guinea. UNIFEM has supported the DCD in fulfilling its reporting obligations in relation to of the CEDAW. UNFPA has supported a comprehensive review of legislation from the point of view of gender and women’s rights, which will provide the basis for proposed reforms and advocacy efforts by the relevant departments. UNHCR continues to support the Government in its application of the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, signed by Papua New Guinea in 1986. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) also has a mandate to provide support in this area.

Proposed UN system results

This support will be continued in order to develop national capacity of both claimholders and duty bearers to ensure that rights are respected. The support will continue to extend to relevant stakeholders, including the police, and to promote public awareness through advocacy campaigns and human rights education. It will also strengthen the relevant institutions to comply with international human rights instruments. A central focus will be on encouraging the ratification of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights (ICPCR), which are the core international human rights treaties, and on assisting the Government to ratify the remaining optional CRC protocols and meet its reporting obligations for ratified conventions. UNHCR will promote the accession of two statelessness conventions. The UN will also support the institutional monitoring of the treaties ratified. It will continue to support measures for the establishment of a National Human Rights Commission, and coordinate with the Law and Justice Programme.

Partnership development

The UN system, through the Human Rights Task Force will support the DJAG, the DCD and the Ombudsman’s Commission (OC), in conjunction with other donors, notably AusAID, and NGOs (Federation of Red Cross Societies, Transparency International, and Human Rights Watch).