The Report provides analysis based on information from HRDs, complemented by desk reviews and analysis of the legal and institutional frameworks, national reports submitted by the selected Pacific island countries for their Human Rights Council universal periodic reviews (UPR) and UN human rights treaty body reviews, concluding comments, observations and recommendations emanating from States and experts bodies following such reviews, as well as from the Human Rights Council’s Independent Special Procedures.

A questionnaire was disseminated to human rights defenders that captured a diverse range of information and data including facts and figures as well as perceptions of defenders on the state of civic space in their environments of operation. Responses capture the views of 195 HRDs from Fiji, Solomon Islands, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.

The recommendations were developed as part of consultative process that included individual conversations and group workshops that brought together HRDs from the seven countries.

A validation of the findings of the Report took place on 8 September 2021, 80 percent of the HRDs consulted were women and 50 percent of WHRDs operated from and were based in rural and remote areas.