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INTRODUCTION
1. For ease of reference, the Samoa Office of the Ombudsman/ National Human Rights Institution’s
(NHRI Samoa) submission is structured based on the “List of issues in relation to the sixth periodic
report of Samoa document” (Document) issued by the Committee on 16 March 2018
(CEDAW/C/WSM/Q/6). The submission does not comment on all issues contained in the
Document but only on issues that NHRI Samoa believes should be considered as soon as possible
by the Samoan Government to further promote and protect the rights of women and girls in Samoa.
2. Firstly, NHRI Samoa acknowledges that Samoa has come a long way and has made significant
progress towards meeting its obligations under CEDAW.1 It highly commends efforts and
measures implemented by the Government appropriate to the Samoan context (either legislative or
non-legislative, or both), that work towards the elimination of discrimination against women and
further advance women’s rights in Samoa.
3. However, there is still room for improvement with Government consciously continuing to direct
policy towards progressively removing discriminatory legislation and practices whilst taking into
account Samoa’s customs and traditions. Two of the most pressing issues which NHRI Samoa
believes require urgent attention are family violence (where women continue to be subjected to
different types of abuse); and the lack of participation in decision making (where women are
systemically obstructed from decision making).
4. It is important to note that a majority of the issues discussed in this submission are addressed in
detail (with recommendations) in NHRI Samoa’s recently completed National Public Inquiry into
Family Violence Report 2018 (Inquiry) which focused on women and girls and the impact of
violence in the upbringing of children.2
5. The final report of the Inquiry has been completed and is now with Parliament for tabling.
CONTENT
Articles 2 & 3: Constitutional, legislative, policy and institutional framework
6. The establishment by the Government in 2013 of NHRI Samoa has enabled concrete steps to be
taken in the promotion and protection of the human rights of women through awareness raising
initiatives. These initiatives sought to put the relevance of human rights in context alongside the
cultural and faith convictions of the Samoan community to promote greater appreciation of human
rights and a rolling back of a settling attitude that “human rights” is an intruding foreign construct.
Other activities include female detention facility inspections, the compilation of State of Human
Rights Reports (SHRR) 2015, 2016, 2017 and the just completed Inquiry as SHRR 2018.
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Refer to Samoa Law Reform Commission, CEDAW legislative Compliance Review Report, 2016.
Full list of Findings and Recommendations of the National Inquiry into Family Violence in Samoa Final Report 2018
can be found at Appendix A.
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