A/HRC/41/10
95 recommendations from the second review cycle that had been accepted by Vanuatu and
generally on all matters concerning human rights. With the assistance of the Pacific Islands
Forum, the Pacific Community through the Regional Rights Resource Team, the OHCHR
Regional Office and the national Universal Periodic Review Committee, the National
Human Rights Committee had developed a national implementation matrix for the period
2014–2018, which was a simplified guide for the government line agencies on
implementing the respective recommendations. The development and implementation of
that matrix was regarded as one of the best practices in the Pacific region, as Vanuatu had
been the first country in the Pacific to develop such a tool.
9.
The supported recommendations had been divided into thematic areas for
incorporation into existing national development plans, such as the Priority Action Agenda
and the “Planning Long, Acting Short” Strategic Framework, as well as annual corporate
plans of various ministries as they related to human rights, poverty reduction, education,
social protection, health and the Sustainable Development Goals, among other areas.
Further, the Government’s National Sustainable Development Plan, 2016–2030, or the
“People’s Plan”, and its monitoring and evaluation framework reflected the Government’s
commitments to realizing basic human rights in the form of national sustainable
development goals and priorities.
10.
Between 2014 and 2018, the Government had enacted various laws on the protection
of rights, including laws on education, health, movement and access to information. Those
laws included: the Right to Information Act No. 13 of 2016, which provided a legal basis
for any person to request and access information held by the Government; the Public Health
(Amendment) Act No. 11 of 2018, which provided for sanitation standards; the Penal Code
(Amendment) Act No. 15 of 2016, which increased sentencing penalties for abduction and
sexual offences and established the offence of abduction of persons under that age of 18
years; the Custom Land Management Act No. 33 of 2013, introduced in 2014, which
enabled women to participate in decision-making processes in cultural settings (nakamal);
the Water Resources Management (Amendment) Act No. 32 of 2016, which provided for
responsibilities of water resources, customary rights and rights of occupiers to water
resources; and the Water Supply (Amendment) Act No. 31 of 2016, which provided for
national drinking-water quality standards and drinking-water safety plans.
11.
With regard to the rights of women, children and persons with disabilities, the
Department of Women’s Affairs had developed the key gender policies with due
consideration to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities. Those policies
included the Vanuatu National Gender Equality Policy, 2015–2019; the National DisabilityInclusive Development Policy, 2018–2025; the Vanuatu Child Online Protection National
Strategy Framework, 2014–2021; the Vanuatu National Child Protection Policy, 2016–
2026; and the Strategy for the Justice and Community Services Sector, 2018–2021.
12.
In combating cervical cancer, one of the women’s health issues with respect to
which Vanuatu had the highest rate in the Pacific, the Ministry of Health, in collaboration
with the Asian Development Bank, had commenced a vaccination programme in 2018.
Thus far, the programme had reached more than 10,000 women out of a total nationwide
population of 63,120 women.
13.
The Ministry of Health had developed key health policies and frameworks to reflect
the country’s commitment to ensuring that the right to health under the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights
of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was being
respected. Those policies and frameworks included the Health Sector Strategy, 2017–2020;
the Vanuatu National Nutrition Policy and Strategic Plan, 2016–2020; the Vanuatu NonCommunicable Disease Policy and Strategic Plan, 2016–2020; the Tobacco Control Act of
2008, as amended in the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions Act) Act No. 6 of 2016; the
National Strategic Plan for HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections, 2017–2021; the
National Policy and Strategy for Healthy Islands, 2018–2020; the Healthy Vanuatu School
Food Guidelines/Gudfala Kakae Policy, 2017–2030; the Vanuatu Reproductive, Maternal,
Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health Policy and Implementation Strategy, 2017–2020;
the Draft Digital Health Strategy Information for Action, 2019–2021; and a comprehensive
3
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents