5 Feb 2018

Top UN human rights official to visit Indonesia, PNG and Fiji

2:54 pm on 5 February 2018

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights will visit the region this week, on a tour that will include a public lecture in Fiji.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein Photo: AFP

From today, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein will spend a week visiting Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, where he will hold talks with national leaders and top officials.

He will also meet human rights institutions and civil society representatives to discuss human rights issues in the countries.

Mr Al Hussein will then visit Fiji, where he will give a livestreamed public lecture at the University of the South Pacific.

He will also visit Natewa Bay, where he will meet a village displaced by climate change.

A Jordanian prince, Mr al-Hussein has been the UN's top human rights official since 2014, and has made a name for openly criticising governments.

In December he made the decision to not seek a second term, saying it might involve bending a knee in supplication.