Estonia welcomes the delegation of the Republic of the Marshall Islands to the UPR.
We thank the Marshall Islands for their work in preparing the report and for the additional information provided in the opening speech.
Estonia acknowledges the progress the Marshall Islands have made since the last UPR session. We commend the Government of Marshall Islands for acceding to several international Human Rights Instruments, including Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and other human rights instruments as recommended during the previous review.
We are also pleased to note the active role taken by the Marshall Islands in the UN Human Rights Council, particularly around human rights issues on climate change.
Estonia encourages the Marshall Islands to move forward intensively in the field of gender-based violence, domestic violence, child abuse and human trafficking, where much remains to be done to improve the situation. We are deeply concerned about lack of activities related to prohibiting human trafficking and child trafficking which shows an upward trend.
We note with concern the number of children dropping out from the education system due to the lack of minimum age of employment. The number of services for the protection of children is far from enough.
Estonia would like to make the following recommendations to the Government of the Marshall Islands:
- Accede to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict.
- Accede to the Optional Protocol of the Convention against Torture (OP-CAT).
- Increase services for the protection of children including adequate staffing for Human Rights Office in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
- Create specialised prison facilities for female and juvenile prisoners.
We wish the delegation of the Marshall Island a successful review meeting.
Thank you!