UN human rights bodies have recommended action on employment matters
Appendix Three sets out the most recent
recommendations of UN human rights bodies
concerning Pacific peoples and employment.
In addition to general recommendations to eliminate
discrimination in the workplace and work, to alleviate
poverty and to promote equality, the Committee for
the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
recommended in 2018 that Aotearoa New Zealand:
set targets to increase representation of Māori,
Pasifika and other minorities in corporate
governance and senior management in the public
sector, and to provide data on Māori, Pasifika
and other minorities currently employed in the
public sector with regard to distribution at job and
managerial levels.10
20
The same year, the Universal Periodic Review
recommended that Aotearoa New Zealand take
action to:
[i]mprove anti-discrimination legislation
for ensuring protection of the rights of the
ethnic minorities, including Māori and Pasifika
communities.11
The Human Rights Committee in its ICCPR review
in 2016 had specific recommendations regarding
employment, recommending that Aotearoa New
Zealand:
[a]ddress the high unemployment rates
among Māori and Pasifika, in particular Māori
and Pasifika women and young people,
among persons with disabilities and among
migrants, through the adoption and effective
implementation of comprehensive employment
and vocational training strategies.12
10
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Concluding Observations on the Combined Twenty-First and TwentySecond Periodic Reports of New Zealand. CERD/C/NZL/CO/21-22. September 22, 2017. https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/
concluding-observations/cerdcnzlco21-22-committee-elimination-racial-discrimination.
11
Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review. Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review: New Zealand.
April 1, 2019. https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/reports/report-working-group-universal-periodic-review-new-zealand
12
Human Rights Committee. Concluding Observations on the Sixth Periodic Report of New Zealand. CCPR/C/NZL/CO/6. April
28, 2016. https://uhri.ohchr.org/Document/File/0e570ad0-f854-4381-a295-587308403647/F317ADB1-6058-4AD8-B46A6F941A02AF3D.