New Zealand's Parliamentary Speaker, Margaret Wilson, has called on MPs from around the Pacific to recognise their duty to maintain the rule of law and act in a democratic manner.
Thirty MPs from 11 Pacific Island countries are meeting in Auckland this week to discuss aspects of the Pacific Plan, with human rights at the top of the agenda.
Ms Wilson, who opened the conference, says human rights must be supported on a daily basis, not just written into the law.
She says human rights is the the thread that unites peoples across their differences.
Ms Wilson says while many Pacific Island countries had included certain human rights in their national constitutions, few had signed up to international treaties on human rights.
