Five civil society groups will head to Geneva in Switzerland next week to address and make recommendations to representatives of United Nations member states on human rights issues in Singapore.

In particular, they will focus on the rights of migrant workers, gender equality, income inequality, the death penalty and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights.

Their participation next Wednesday comes ahead of a meeting on Jan 27 when Singapore officials will discuss with the UNmember states’ representatives the country’s human rights situation as set out in its national report.

This meeting for the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is Singapore’s second. Each UN member state undergoes the UPR every 4 1/2 years.

The five groups that will take part in the UPR pre-session meetings are: migrant worker advocates Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (Home); anti- death penalty group We Believe In Second Chances; human rights group Maruah; and LGBT groups Oogachaga and Sayoni. Previously in 2011, only two activist groups went to Geneva: Maruah and Think Centre.

… S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies political scientist Alan Chong said some of these non-governmental organisations (NGOs) view their participation as a way to shape Singapore’s human rights standards in line with international norms, and “a way to hurry or pressure government policies towards certain directions”.