A/HRC/13/56
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and favourably noted the programmes for
migrant juveniles and their focus on secondary education and labour market inclusion. It
reiterated the importance of the Ombudsman for children’s cooperation in addressing ethnic
youth’s distrust of law enforcement officers as part of its ongoing efforts to combat racism
and xenophobia. It commended Norway for steps taken to introduce restorative justice
programmes for juveniles, and the attention and resources committed to unaccompanied
asylum-seeking minors.
411. Hungary appreciated Norway’s exemplary efforts to protect and promote human
rights, and highlighted the importance it attached to the fight against all forms of
discrimination. Hungary welcomed Norway’s willingness to consider ratifying the Optional
Protocol to the Convention against Torture and signing the Optional Protocol to the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It also highlighted
Norway’s pledge to uphold the policy of allocating a minimum of 1 per cent of its GDP for
development assistance. Hungary also underscored Norway’s pioneering role in the
promotion and protection of woman’s rights and programmes regarding social inclusion, as
well as its international efforts aimed at ensuring that States fulfil their obligations
regarding the rights of human rights defenders. Hungary underlined that Norway’s
cooperation with the universal periodic review, and its transparency and openness during
the preparation and the review process, could serve as a model to other countries, and
highly appreciated its voluntary commitment to provide information annually on the
implementation of the recommendations it accepted.
412. Botswana welcomed Norway’s acceptance of the majority of the recommendations
and appreciated the additional information provided. It commended Norway’s decision to
convert some of the recommendations into voluntary commitments, as an action-oriented
approach. It noted with appreciation Norway’s leadership in the fields of promoting human
rights and combating racism, as well as its constructive participation in the work of the
Council.
3.
General comments made by other relevant stakeholders
413. The Norwegian Centre for Human Rights commended Norway for its self-critical
and constructive approach to the universal periodic review. It highlighted two concerns.
The first was the lack of response to requests for a new national plan of action for human
rights. It regretted that Norway did not have a clear policy; indeed, no specific goals had
been set; and no overall measures were initiated. There was no coordination of ministry
initiatives, no plan for competence-building in State bureaucracy and no overall mechanism
for political follow-up of decisions taken. Hence, the plan of action was seen as weakening
the Government’s accountability when it came to its human rights commitments. The
Centre was of the view that the current case-by-case, fragmented approach to the use of
religious garments, primarily hijab, exemplified the challenges of policy coordination. It
recommended that Norway commit to formulate and implement a plan of action for human
rights and establish a high level inter-ministerial coordinating mechanism for its follow-up
consultation with the Centre and civil society. The second concern referred to the
ratification of international human rights instruments to which Norway is not yet a State
party. In this regard, the Centre recommended that the authorities of Norway continue to set
a good example internationally by giving priority to ongoing ratification processes, by
ratifying the Optional Protocols to the Convention against Torture, the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities.
414. The Charitable Institute for Protecting Social Victims stated that a nationwide
survey showed that 9 per cent of girls of the age of 15 years had been victims of genderbased violence, and that a Government committee’s estimations of early 2008 showed that
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