News

The delegation of Lithuania took the floor at the 32nd session of the Working Group of Universal Periodic Review, which is being held in Geneva on 21 January – 1 February 2019.

Lithuania recommended Afghanistan to introduce effective measures to eradicate all forms of violence against women and the recruitment of children, to implement UN Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security by ensuring women’s full participation in peace process, to protect and support journalists and human rights defenders, to further reduce number of crimes carrying capital punishment and to consider the moratorium of death penalty. Lithuania welcomed significant progress made by Chile in protecting human rights and recommended to enhance its efforts to eradicate all forms of violence against women and girls, to strengthen comprehensive child protection system and to accelerate ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Lithuania commended Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia for its commitment to human rights and recommended to enhance its efforts towards elimination of all forms of discrimination, to fight hate speech and hate crimes against minorities and to ensure the freedom of expression and safety of journalists.

The UPR is a human rights mechanism employed since 2008. The UPR assesses the human rights situation in each individual country and provides recommendations for improvements. At the end of each UPR cycle, UN Members produce reports about the implementation of the adopted recommendations and overall progress in the area of human rights. Countries undergo the UPR every five years. Lithuania had its first review in 2011. In 2017, its second-cycle UPR report got adopted.