UN urges more action human rights abuses in Pacific

Last Updated: Mon, 9 Nov 2009 15:29:00 +1100

Human rights organisations are being encouraged to improve the monitoring and documenting of human rights abuses.

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights regional Pacific Office is running workshops in the region with one being held today in Vanuatu.

The workshops are mainly focussed on violence against women and torture.

Participants are also being urged to discuss other forms of abuses they have encountered, such as children being deprived of education and poor access to health faciltities.

Regional Representative for the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Pacific, Matilda Bogner, says more information is needed on issues such as human trafficking in the Pacific.

She told the Pacific Beat program, the issue can better understood if people speak about their experiences.

"If for example a child has been trafficked but then manages to get back to their country or in the country they are trafficked manages to escape and then makes contact with the civil society organisation or with the government body then that person will be able to explain what has happened to them," said Ms Bogner.

"That will be a particular case that can be fully documented and if enough of those cases are documented you begin to see a pattern of how the human rights violations take place."