A/HRC/30/13 relating to the Program. Many of the historical documents provided to the Marshall Islands were incomplete and in “deleted version only” form and labelled as “extracted, redacted or sanitized” with information of an unknown nature and the volume removed. Following the Special Rapporteur’s report, the country had as recently as 27 April 2015 been trying to gain access to that information but to no avail. The repeated failure or refusal of the United States to provide full access to those records could only be taken as a blatant indignity towards and lack of respect for the Marshallese people and represented an ongoing violation of basic human rights. 18. Despite those challenges and other constraints, such as human and financial resources, the delegation stated that the Marshall Islands continued to do its outmost to address recommendations from the first universal periodic review to improve the country’s capacity to address human rights issues. As it had in 2010, the Marshall Islands once again requested the kind assistance of the international community for the following: (a) Technical and financial assistance for capacity-building of public servants and government-elected officials with respect to implementation of human rights in the country; (b) Technical and financial assistance in improving public awareness programmes of both the Government and NGOs with respect to the human rights of the Marshallese people; (c) Technical and financial assistance to address climate change, educational and health issues. 19. The Marshall Islands reiterated its commitment to fulfilling its human rights obligations. Although it was a small island developing State, much progress had been made in five years, and the country was confident that more progress was forthcoming. It recognized that more work needed to be done, none of which would be relegated. The country would continue to do its part in the promotion and protection of human rights for the Marshallese people and the improvement thereof, but it would like to point out that that was a collaborative, universal effort requiring the partnership and assistance of the international community. To that end, the Marshall Islands looked forward to the recommendations of the Working Group, which would be seriously considered given its domestic process. B. Interactive dialogue and responses by the State under review 20. During the interactive dialogue, 43 delegations made statements. Recommendations made during the dialogue can be found in section II of the present report. 21. The Netherlands referred to the standing invitation extended to the special procedures and welcomed steps taken to implement recommendations by the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes. It was concerned about the protection of the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and/or other sexually transmitted diseases. It mentioned the steps taken in the field of women’s rights and that improvements could be made regarding the political participation of women. The Netherlands made recommendations. 22. New Zealand was conscious of the challenges faced by small island developing States. It congratulated the Marshall Islands on ratifying the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and commended its development of domestic legislation. It indicated that violence against women was an ongoing problem and offered to share its own experiences in dealing with domestic violence. New Zealand made recommendations. 6

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents