St Vincent and the Grenadines-Overview

The Constitution of St Vincent and the Grenadines guarantees fundamental freedoms, including of conscience, expression, association and assembly. However a constitutional reform process that would have created a human rights commission and an ombudsperson was defeated in a referendum in 2009. The country still does not have a national human rights institution, but as part of its response to the 2011 UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process committed to consult with stakeholders and seek international support with a view to creating one. St Vincent and the Grenadines is also not a party to many international conventions or their optional protocols, and was urged in its 2011 UPR to accede to these.