Singapore Universal Period Review

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is the only universal mechanism, established under the Human Rights Council (HRC), that reviews the human rights situation in all 193 UN Member States once every four and a half years. The UPR and the HRC were created on 15 March 2006 by the UN General Assembly in resolution 60/251.

Since the first UPR session was held at the UN Office in Geneva in April 2008, all UN Member States have to date undergone at least two cycles of the UPR. Singapore participated in the first and second cycles of the UPR on 6 May 2011 and 27 January 2016 respectively.

The third cycle of the UPR began in 2017. 14 UN member States are reviewed at each session of the UPR Working Group which meets three times a year. Singapore’s third UPR is scheduled for January/February 2021 during the 38th session of the UPR Working Group.

UN General Assembly resolution 60/251

HRC resolution 5/1: HRC Institution-building package

Singapores Preparations for the UPR

Singapore welcomes the UPR process as a conversation with our citizens, civil society organisations, and fellow UN member States on our achievements and challenges in the area of human rights.

In its preparations for the National Report, the Singapore Government conducted broad consultations with local stakeholders from government and non-governmental organisations active in the promotion of human rights.

The UPR Process

Each cycle of Singapore’s UPR is conducted on the basis of three documents:

A National Report submitted by the Singapore Government on the human rights situation in Singapore. It explains the policies and actions that the Government has adopted to improve the human rights situation in Singapore as well as the challenges and constraints faced.
A report that will be compiled by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) of information contained in the reports of independent human rights experts and groups (also known as Special Procedures), human rights treaty bodies and other UN entities on Singapore.
A report summarising relevant stakeholders' submissions (including local and international civil society organisations) on Singapore, which will be prepared by the OHCHR.

The Actual Review

During the review, Singapore will appear before the UPR Working Group, which is chaired by the President of the Human Rights Council (HRC). During a three and a half hour session, Singapore will present its National Report and engage in an interactive dialogue with member and observer states of the HRC. The session will be open to accredited media and civil society organisations (CSOs), which can observe but not participate in the proceedings.

The UPR Working Group Report will consist of two sections:

A list of all recommendations received from other States and Singapore’s response to these recommendations (which will be circulated to all States 48hrs after the UPR); and
A summary of the statements made by States as well as the presentation by Singapore (which will be produced and incorporated into the Report one week after the end of the UPR Working Group session).

The Report (without the summary of the statements by States and presentation by Singapore) will be adopted by the UPR Working Group after Singapore’s review by the UPR Working Group.

At a subsequent HRC Plenary Session, Singapore, HRC member and observer States, as well as CSOs, will be allotted time, within a total of one hour, to express their views and make general comments. The UPR Working Group Report will then be formally adopted by the HRC. This Report will in turn form the basis for Singapore’s review at the fourth UPR cycle.

All UPR sessions are broadcast live via webcasts on the OHCHR website.

Links to more information on the UPR

UPR page on OHCHR website:
http://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/upr/pages/uprmain.aspx

UPR Info:
http://www.upr-info.org/

Singapore at the UPR:

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/SGindex.aspx