A/HRC/10/29 review process. She reaffirmed Tuvalu’s commitment to the review mechanism and to the upholding of human rights principles. 699. Tuvalu expressed a deep appreciation to those who had provided the much needed support, from the preparation phase of its national report to the reporting session in December 2008, and also for facilitating the presence of Tuvalu in the consideration of the outcome. In this regard, the delegation referred to the support of the OHCHR Regional Office for the Pacific, the Pacific Regional Rights Resource Team, the Social Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community and the Permanent Missions of New Zealand and Australia in Geneva. Tuvalu extended its warm thanks also to the Council, the Working Group and Member States of the troika for the honest reflections and the assistance provided to the delegation of Tuvalu. Being one of the first small island States to undergo the review process, Tuvalu noted that it had encountered the challenges of underresources in terms of technical expertise. With the assistance of the human rights-related offices in the region, Tuvalu had been able to participate fully in the review. 700. Tuvalu stated that the review process had been an opportunity not only to inform the international community of the state of Tuvalu’s compliance and realization of human rights at the ground level, but also to know where Tuvalu stood in the fulfilment of its obligation as a State Member of the United Nations in the area of human rights. It regarded the process as truly universal, and reaffirmed the commitment of Tuvalu to its success and continuity. 701. With regard to the 10 recommendations made in December 2008 to be considered by the Government, the delegation stated that Tuvalu supported all of them (A/HRC/10/84, para. 68). With regard to recommendation 2, to fully incorporate the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and recommendation 6, on the elimination of discrimination against women and to fully incorporate the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Tuvalu stated that careful consideration and broad consultation were required at the national level with relevant stakeholders in the incorporation of these two conventions. Tuvalu added that some of the recommendations, such as regarding children with no parental care and asylum, were not relevant to Tuvalu, but the delegation confirmed the support of Tuvalu and that it stood ready to consider them. Lastly, Tuvalu stated that it required the financial and technical support of the international community in the fulfilment of these recommendations. (b) Views expressed by Member and observer States of the Council on the review outcome 702. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland congratulated Tuvalu on the adoption of the report of their review. It recognized the capacity constraints that the Government of Tuvalu encountered when preparing for the review. The fact that, despite these constraints, the Government of Tuvalu had been represented in Geneva in December 2008 and was in Geneva on 20 March 2009 for the consideration of the outcome was commendable. 703. New Zealand noted that Tuvalu was the second country in the South Pacific region to go through the universal periodic review process. It warmly welcomed the presence of a Tuvalu delegate in Geneva to take part in the adoption phase of the review process. It noted that Tuvalu had given the review process high priority, with the preparation of a comprehensive State report and the input of a number of non-governmental organizations. The quality of Tuvalu’s preparation for the review resulted in a wide-ranging discussion in December 2008, in which a number of delegations participated fully. New Zealand commended Tuvalu for its acceptance of a very large number of the recommendations made in December 2008. It noted that for the small island States of the Pacific, participation in the review was a major undertaking, and that Tuvalu was undoubtedly among the smallest countries to have gone through the review process to date. New Zealand GE.09-17451 203

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