Some of the human rights issues common to the three Realm nations include the rights of women, the rights of children, and the rights of persons with disabilities. In its 2018 response to the periodic reports of the Cook Islands, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, highlighted concerns about stereotyping and discrimination in society, work and education and violence against women.18 In its 2020 response to the periodic reports of the Cook Islands, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child highlighted a range of concerns about the access that Cook Islands’ children had to education and health services. It raised concerns about the abilities that children had to participate in family and community decision making due to prevailing attitudes which hindered the views of the child.19 In its 2015 concluding observations on the initial report of the Cook Islands, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities raised concerns about accessibility of public buildings and transportation for persons with disabilities, the lack of measures to support children with disabilities to allow for inclusive education, access to justice, and negative stereotypes of persons with disabilities in the media.20 In Niue, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child noted several concerns in its 2013 concluding observations on the initial report of Niue.21 This included the fact the minimum age for labour had not been established and that there was no legal 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 protection for working children, and no mechanism had been put in place to monitor the working conditions and overall situation of working children. While the Committee welcomed Niue’s measures to relocate children with disabilities to Aotearoa New Zealand for off-island care, it raised concerns about the lack of professionals trained to support children with disabilities, the lack of sufficient means for early detection of children with disabilities. It also noted that the statistics and information provided by Niue were inconsistent with regard to the situation of children with disabilities. UN Women have also noted from their own engagements that violence against women is believed to be widespread in Niue, but there is little data collection.22 In Tokelau, an absence of data has also been raised as an issue by the UN. Both UN Women23 and UNICEF24 note an absence of data, but from their engagements certain observations could still be made. The agencies noted strong community-led culture and social behaviours in Tokelau both enable and create barriers. For instance, they noted that communities were engaged in child protection, with social norms tending towards supporting all children within a community, with community networking protecting children from food poverty. At the same time, some norms were accepting of violence against women and children, dissuading any formal justice processes. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Concluding observations on the combined second and third periodic reports of the Cook Islands, adopted by the Committee at its seventieth session (2–20 July 2018), CEDAW/C/COK/CO/2-3. Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding observations on the combined second to fifth periodic reports of the Cook Islands, adopted by the Committee at its eighty-fourth extraordinary session (2–6 March 2020) CRC/C/COK/CO/2-5. on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Concluding observations on the initial report of the Cook Islands, adopted by the Committee at its thirteenth session (25 March–17 April 2015) CRPD/C/COK/CO/1. Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding observations on the initial report of Niue, adopted by the Committee at its sixty-second session (14 January–1 February 2013) CRC/C/NIU/CO/1. UN Women, Asia and the Pacific, Niue, https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/countries/fiji/co/niue. UN Women, Asia and the Pacific, Tokelau https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/countries/fiji/co/tokelau. https://www.unicef.org/pacificislands/media/1236/file/Situation-Analysis-of-Children-Tokelau.pdf. 9