Amnesty International says all governments should make the Millennium Development Goals legally enforceable.
In its annual assessment, the State of the World's Human Rights, Amnesty says thousands of people in the Pacific face various forms of oppression and is calling on the region's leaders to make a real commitment to eliminating these abuses.
The report raises issues such as the ongoing human rights violations by the interim regime in Fiji, the violence directed at women in Papua New Guinea and the failure by governments in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to provide basic social services for all.
Amnesty's Pacific researcher, Apolosi Bose, says while countries have signed up to the Millenium Development Goals this is often lipservice.
"There has to be a moral obligation on the government to go back and try and do something about it because you make a promise to the international community, we want to do something about women and violence in our country, but you know, nothing is done. I think it's very critical because if it's not enforceable then it won't be useful at all to the people who need it the most."
