Best practice
protection and
promotion of human
rights
Effective outreach
and Education
effectively and
efficiently.
Enhanced
awareness and
understanding of
human rights, the
role of and access
to the office
Informative reporting
on human rights issues
Awareness
raising,
promotion &
outreach.
Public education.
Increased
understanding and
acceptance of the value
of human rights in
Samoa
Informative and timely
reports submitted to
international treaty
bodies and mechanisms
Increased partnerships,
cooperation and
information sharing
with regional and
international bodies
Standards of detention
facilities are improved
in line with human
rights standards.
Human Rights
This section sets out the performance of the National Human Rights Institution in the 2019/2020 financial
year. There have been key trends in the NHRI’s work over the period. First, the NHRI has issued a range of
statements of national significance that have put the spotlight on emerging human rights challenges in
Samoa including the ongoing debates on the Amendments Bills 2020. The ongoing Pilot project borne out
of the National Inquiry into Family Violence 2018 continues with significant focus on community driven
initiatives for family violence prevention.
The bulk of the Unit’s work this year was continuing the implementation of the 2 year roll out plan
activities/programmes aimed to raise awareness of the Office’s National Public Inquiry into Family
Violence Report in Samoa 2018 and to encourage our stakeholders and community to start implementing
recommendations of the Report. One of the main and important activity under this Rollout Plan is the
establishment of Family Safety Committees in each village in Samoa as local preventive mechanisms of
family violence.
Challenges
This year has been a rather challenging year for the Unit to implement some of its major activities. This
was mainly due to unavoidable and unexpected circumstances such as the measles outbreak towards the
Office of the Ombusman/NHRI Samoa Annual Report 2019/20
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