Treaties that apply to Tokelau include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), its two optional protocols, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the United Nations Convention Against Torture, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).
An example of a treaty that New Zealand has ratified but does not apply to Tokelau is the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
It then goes on to say there needs to be development in school systems that are free from discrimination, with set minimum standards and a high level of quality.
[9] There is no university in Tokelau, so if students wish to progress to further education, they need to either study via correspondence or relocate to another country such as Samoa.
[14] New Zealand’s National Report for the Universal Periodic Review provides a section on Tokelau which states that statistical information in regards to the health levels of Tokelauan’s is unavailable making it difficult to understand the status of health issues such as obesity and disease rates.
In recent years, climate change has resulted in much lower rain levels with drought periods lasting for much longer.
This has made Tokelau along with many other islands in the Pacific struggle to conserve and store water for individual use.
[17] In the past, countries such as New Zealand and the United States have had to send emergency water supplies to Tokelau because it was on the verge of running out entirely.
[18] Sanitation facilities are also said to be poorly designed and wasting precious supplies of fresh water through the flushing system.
[19] Due to Tokelau being a New Zealand territory and not an independent, it was unable to take advantage of the Pacific Adaption to Climate Change (PACC) programme when it was introduced in 2009.
The Crimes, Procedure and Evidence Rules (CPER) 2003 sets out Tokelau's criminal code.