A/HRC/8/48 Page 4 for consultations was short, the nature of those consultations was intensive and constructive, and they were conducted with a spirit of mutual respect and understanding. The resulting national report as submitted therefore represents a consensus of views on its contents. 7. The Kingdom of Tonga is a constitutional monarchy, and the foundation for the promotion and protection of basic human rights is grounded in the 1875 Constitution promulgated by King George Tupou I. For its time, the Constitution was visionary and farsighted. For the past 132 years, and throughout the successive reigns of King George Tupou II, Queen Salote Tupou III, King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV and presently His Majesty King George Tupou V, the Constitution continues to dutifully serve as the overarching fabric that binds Tongan governance and Tongan society together. The Constitution has been amended from time to time, as required. Following 70 years as a British Protectorate, the Kingdom of Tonga joined the comity of nations in 1970 and, after having been an active member of the United Nations agencies for many years, in 1999 it joined the United Nations as a fully-fledged Member State. 8. He informed that last year, Tonga hosted the annual meeting of the 16 members of the Pacific Islands Forum, the foremost political grouping within the region comprising Australia, the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, New Zealand, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, and as such currently holds the chairmanship of the group. As the first member of the Pacific Islands Forum to take part in the UPR process, there is added significance of this review from a regional perspective for those members of the Forum who will follow and who are also Member States (14 of the Forum members, with the exception of the Cook Islands and Niue). One of the ongoing initiatives within the regional Pacific Plan is concerned with strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights, including the ratification of international human rights instruments. 9. Tonga is party to the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and admittedly is overdue in its reporting duties. However, far from being uncooperative or unwilling, the head of delegation noted that it must be understood that the financial, technical and capacity constraints to provide these reports to the relevant treaty bodies on a regular and timely basis are challenging and quite simply overwhelming. In spite of these constraints, Tonga has provided 14 reports to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and the initial report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child has been overtaken by the events of November 2006. The reporting regime becomes in some ways an additional disincentive to the consideration of other international human rights instruments. 10. The head of delegation indicated that the UPR process may be a positive catalyst for a renewed and innovative consideration of those remaining international human rights instruments. As has been highlighted in the national report, Tonga is embarking on a path of significant constitutional and political reform to determine a more democratic form of governance but also one that is a reflection of the Kingdom of Tonga – its values, its norms, its culture and its people. Not surprisingly, the debate has been properly robust and despite the recent challenges of November 2006 and its aftermath, the commitment to a more democratic path remains steadfast. The peaceful and orderly conduct of last month’s elections reflect a quiet determination to further the debate on this reform and to resolve issues of divergence through dialogue and mutual respect and understanding. 11. In conclusion, he emphasized and reaffirmed Tonga’s commitment to the UPR process and the implications of its outcome for the strengthening of the understanding and advocacy of human rights at a national level.