Office of the Ombudsman, Samoa‘s National Human Rights Institution Submission to the Committee on the Rights of the Child – September 2015 mechanisms and the human rights treaty monitoring bodies‘.1 It is under this mandate that the NHRI makes its submission to the Committee. 7. 3 The NHRI welcomes the following key developments in the protection of child rights in Samoa:  The establishment of the Samoa Law Reform Commission (SLRC) in 2008. Under the Samoa Law Reform Commission Act 2008, the Commission researches and analyses areas of law referred to it by the Prime Minister, Cabinet or the Attorney General. It subsequently reports its findings and provides recommendations for reform to the Prime Minister and the Attorney General. The Commission has delivered reviews of legislation in Samoa that are directly related to child rights, including a review into the Child Care and Protection Bill currently before Parliament;  The enactment of the Education Act 2009 which includes the prohibition of corporal punishment in schools and which regulates the employment of school-aged children;  The enactment of the Labour and Employment Relations Act 2013 which raised the minimum age for hazardous work to 18.  Samoa became a member of the International Labour Organization in 2005 and by 2008 had ratified all 8 fundamental conventions, including the ILO 182 Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour.  With the assistance of the ILO, taking steps to ensuring a national approach to preventing child labour, including the establishment of the Child Labour Taskforce.  The Baseline Research on Child Protection in Samoa carried out in 2011 by Ministry of Women Community and Social Development in collaboration with UNICEF (United Nation International Children‘s Emergency Fund). Understanding human rights in Samoa 8. In order to understand children‘s rights in Samoa, it is important to understand the relationship between fa’asamoa and broader international human rights principles. 9. Fa’asamoa is a way of life that is distinctly unique to Samoa. It prescribes an all encompassing system of roles and responsibilities that spell out different relationships within the family and the community. 1 Ombudsman (Komesina o Sulufaiga) Act 2013, s 33(c)(iv). See s 33 generally for a full list of the functions of the NHRI. Section 40 requires the NHRI to prepare an annual report of the state of human rights in Samoa to be submitted to the Samoan Parliament by 30 June each year. 5