COLOMBO (NewsRadio); Sri Lanka’s National Report under the Fourth Cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) will be considered today by the UN Working Group on UPR during its 42nd Session to be held in Geneva.
The Universal Periodic Review was established by the General Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA) in 2006, as a State-driven voluntary peer-review process which provides the opportunity for each State to declare the steps taken at the national level to improve the human rights situation in that State and to fulfil their human rights obligations.
At the UPR, all 193 Member States of the UN are reviewed without any selectivity or discrimination. It is periodic and is repeated every four-and half years.
Three sessions are held each year and 14 countries are reviewed in one session.
As such, each Member State of the UN is reviewed every 4 years.
All UN member States, including Sri Lanka, have participated in three cycles of the UPR namely, in 2008 (first), 2012 (second) and 2017 (third).
The Fourth Cycle of the UPR commenced in November 2022 and Sri Lanka’s Fourth UPR is scheduled for today during the 42nd session of the UPR Working Group, in Geneva.
Under the UPR’s fourth cycle at the 42nd Working Group, during the period 23 January to 3 February 2023, Argentina, Benin, Czechia, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Japan, Pakistan, Peru, Republic of Korea, Switzerland, and Zambia The will also be reviewed.
Sri Lanka’s National Report under the Fourth Cycle of the UPR was submitted on 22 December 2022 and provides a self-assessment on the steps taken since the last UPR in November 2017, to fulfil our voluntarily undertaken human rights obligations.
The process of preparation of the National Report was undertaken under the guidance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Broad consultations were held with stakeholders from government and non-governmental organizations as well as the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka’s National Report is available at https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/upr/lk-index
This year’s Review will take place in a hybrid format. Due to the 75th Anniversary of Independence celebrations falling during the same period, Sri Lanka’s delegation to the Review will be led by Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry by means of a pre-recorded video statement.
The in-person delegation will be led by Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva Himalee Arunatilaka and comprise senior officials from the Presidential Secretariat, the Attorney-General’s Department, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva.
