Norwegian recommendations in UPR on the Netherlands 31 May
Norway thanks the delegation of the Netherlands for its concise and informative national report.
Norway welcomes the positive steps that have been taken by the Netherlands since its last UPR, notably the decision to establish an Institute for Human Rights and the establishment of an ombudsman for children.
Norway believes that the new Institute for Human Rights can play an important role in increasing awareness and promoting human rights. (We have noted that the institute will cooperate with civil society organizations and with national, European and other international human rights institutions.) Norway recommends that the Netherlands make full use in practice of the new Institute to promote a coherent approach to human rights issues across the spectrum of different policy areas and human rights situations.
The stakeholders’ report points to a number of issues, among them the position of women in the labor market. Norway recommends the Netherlands:
- to take steps to facilitate equal access to the labour market, including by increasing women’s ability to continue as full-time employees following child birth ,
- to implement measures to decrease the wage gap between men and women.
- to promote more equal representation of men and women in top positions.
Combating discrimination requires a proactive approach. Norway would recommend that Netherlands develops national action plans to combat discrimination in consultation with civil society.
Norway is aware that it has been proposed by civil society to formalize human rights education to increase the attention to and understanding of human rights and would appreciate to hear the government’s views on this proposal.
Norway’s Advance Questions for the Netherlands
- Dutch civil society organizations encourage the government to combat intolerance in society by inter alia promoting more fact based political debates and broadening the discussions on immigration. Will the government follow-up these recommendations, and if so; how?
-Is there according to the government room for improvements in Dutch policies on prostitution and human trafficking? The Netherlands lifted the ban on brothels in 2000. Has this in view of the government had the anticipated effects in areas such as safety and health?
-Are any developments to be expected in the near future as regards accession to international treaties in the field of human rights? If so, please elaborate.
-We note that the national report has been prepared in consultation with NGOs and agencies set up to protect human rights. Are there particular lessons learnt from this approach that the government might want to expand on?