New Zealand Government human rights priorities

The key priorities of the New Zealand Government UPR Report are:

• improving the economic, social and cultural wellbeing of people in New Zealand

• reducing violence within families and its impact on women and children

• improving the opportunities and responsibilities of young people in New Zealand through the education and youth justice systems
• strengthening the rights of victims of crime
• improving the consultation process with civil society for future human rights reporting and follow-up to recommendations

• strengthening the partnership between the Government and Māori by continuing to support Māori to realise their potential and continuing the momentum on achieving fair, just and practical settlements of historical claims under the Treaty of Waitangi

• the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the New Zealand Disability Strategy.

Human Rights Commission

The Commission’s key recommendations to the New Zealand Government are:

International Obligations
The Commission recommends that government establish a comprehensive UPR and Treaty body reporting process that includes engagement with civil society, greater integration across public agencies, and clearer accountability for coordinating and publicising reports and following up on their recommendations.

The Commission recommends that the government should, as a priority, withdraw the remaining reservations to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Commission recommends explicit government commitment to the full and effective incorporation of ratified international human rights standards in domestic legislation, in policy development and in public sector professional development and training.

Constitution & Legal Framework
The Commission recommends a review of New Zealand’s constitutional arrangements to give greater effect to the Treaty of Waitangi and human rights protections.

The Commission recommends that the government should engage with Mäori and the wider community to promote greater recognition and realisation of indigenous rights as set out in the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Promotion & Protection of Human Rights on the Ground
It is recommended that the government support the Human Rights Commission to develop, in consultation with all interested parties, a further national plan of action, for the promotion and protection of human rights in New Zealand, for 2010 – 2015.

Equality & Non-discrimination
The Commission recommends that in implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the government prioritise the rights to education and employment (establishing targets for participation in the public sector) and commit to fully accessible public transport by 2020.

The Commission recommends that the government commits to specific targets and timelines for reducing the high levels of imprisonment and the disproportionate number of Māori in prison.

The Commission recommends that the government establishes targets for improving representation of women in senior management in the public service, and sets a minimum target of halving the gender pay gap by 2012 and eliminating it by 2020.

Right to Life, Liberty & Security of the Person
The Commission recommends that interventions to reduce violence should be actively monitored, adjusted and extended on the basis of robust empirical evidence; and that victims’ rights should be further strengthened, particularly in relation to participation in the criminal justice system and access to compensation.

Right to an Adequate Standard of Living
The Commission recommends that New Zealand adopt a national plan to combat poverty with targets and a timeline and with clear indicators to assess its impact particularly on children, marginalised groups and Mäori and Pacific people.

Right to Education
The Commission recommends that the government commit to fully realising the right to education for all students by removing remaining barriers to access, participation and achievement.

Migrants, Refugees and Asylum Seekers
The Commission recommends that the government reviews immigration and counter-terrorism legislation to ensure it is fully compliant with human rights standards.

Capacity Building & Technical Assistance
The Commission recommends that the government ensure that its foreign affairs and trade policies, as with its international development assistance policies, incorporate and promote international human rights standards and that it expand its support for the protection and promotion of human rights in the Asia-Pacific region.