A/HRC/44/15 Introduction 1. The Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, established in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 5/1, held its thirty-fifth session from 20 to 31 January 2020. The review of Kiribati was held at the 13th meeting, on 28 January 2020. The delegation of Kiribati was headed by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kiribati to the United Nations, Teburoro Tito. At its 17th meeting, held on 31 January 2020, the Working Group adopted the report on Kiribati. 2. On 14 January 2020, the Human Rights Council selected the following group of rapporteurs (troika) to facilitate the review of Kiribati: Eritrea, Marshall Islands and Ukraine. 3. In accordance with paragraph 15 of the annex to Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 and paragraph 5 of the annex to Council resolution 16/21, the following documents were issued for the review of Kiribati: (a) A national report submitted/written presentation made in accordance with paragraph 15 (a) (A/HRC/WG.6/35/KIR/1); (b) A compilation prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in accordance with paragraph 15 (b) (A/HRC/WG.6/35/KIR/2); (c) A summary prepared by OHCHR in accordance with paragraph 15 (c) (A/HRC/WG.6/35/KIR/3). 4. A list of questions prepared in advance by Germany, Portugal, on behalf of the Group of Friends on national mechanisms for implementation, reporting and follow-up, Spain, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America was transmitted to Kiribati through the troika. These questions are available on the website of the universal periodic review. I. Summary of the proceedings of the review process A. Presentation by the State under review 5. The delegation recalled that at the conclusion of the 2015 review, Kiribati had received a total of 115 recommendations, of which 70 had been supported and 45 noted. Kiribati had implemented 65 out of the 70 supported recommendations, despite financial constraints, a lack of local capacity and high staff turnover in key ministries and elsewhere. 6. Despite those limitations, the delegation emphasized that Kiribati remained strongly committed to implementing those recommendations, producing the necessary changes and fulfilling its human rights obligations, as expressed in the Kiribati Development Vision over a 20-year period, which recognized human rights and good governance as key components for making Kiribati a nation of happy, healthy, peaceful and prosperous people by 2036. 7. From the delegation’s perspective, policy achievements over the past five years included: (a) Establishment of the Ministry of Justice to oversee human rights policy, compliance and enforcement; (b) Completion of the common core document and submission to OHCHR; (c) Completion and submission of many of the outstanding reports for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; 2