The abolition of the death penalty has been consistently included in the 1st, second and third regular reviews, as a key subject. The UN team in Zambia is brought by Resident Coordinator Beatrice Mutali. The UN and the Zambian Authorities also recently signed a brand new roadmap for the partnership covering the next five years.
Support for rights review
“With this UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, the country team will certainly continue to support the government’s efforts to consolidate democracy, human rights and the principle of law, ” stated the statement. The UPR process was established in 2006 to review the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States. It really is conducted by a Working Team that meets three times a year, with 14 countries examined each session. The UN team also supported the review, amendment plus enactment of ordinary laws, including the Penal Code and Public Order Act, furthermore contributing to the recent repeal of the defamation of the President as the criminal offence.
‘Breakthrough moment’ in May
Several UN entities there contributed to the landmark by providing a wide range of technical support to the authorities. Since that time, the UN team offers stepped up its advocacy efforts, which culminated in the celebration of International Individual Rights Day with govt partners in December. For example , the UN Development Programme ( UNDP ) and the UN human legal rights office ( OHCHR ) assisted the country with preparation for the UN Human Rights Council ’s Universal Periodic Reviews ( UPR ), such as the fourth review scheduled for this year. President Hakainde Hichilema announced the move on twenty three December, which “followed years of advocacy efforts by worried stakeholders, such as the National Human Rights Commission, civil society groups, development partners, the UN team and other partners, ” it said. President Hichilema had taken office in August 2021, and a “breakthrough moment” happened the following May when the chief and the new Zambian Govt pledged to abolish the particular death penalty and work with parliament to this end, the statement said.
