The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a process of the United Nations Human Rights Council to review each country’s human rights record every five years, and make recommendations for improvements.
Takatāpui and rainbow people in New Zealand face specific barriers to experiencing their human rights, and limited government support to protect and uphold these rights.
The UPR process asks New Zealand to report regularly about how well we are supporting the human rights of people in this country. Other countries who are Member States of the UN have the opportunity to ask questions and make recommendations about how New Zealand could improve our human rights record.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has more information about the UPR process, and copies of New Zealand’s official reports. Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission has information about their role monitoring the UPR.
New Zealand’s third UPR cycle was the first to include recommendations related to rainbow rights. States recommended that New Zealand:
end non-consensual medical procedures affecting intersex people (accepted by NZ)
amend the Human Rights Act (1993) to include gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics as prohibited grounds of discrimination (noted, not accepted, by NZ)
Rainbow inputs to the UPR process
Takatāpui and rainbow human rights in Aotearoa - advocacy factsheet and slides from a presentation by Te Ngākau Kahukura at a UPR pre-session in March 2024.
Inputs to the 2018 UN Universal Periodic Review process: submission from the IDAHOBIT Coalition (PDF download), factsheets on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC) and from the Intersex Trust of Aotearoa New Zealand (ITANZ)