A/HRC/33/25 dialogue. Platforms inviting people to share their ideas about what governments should do were generally based on their opinions and had not resulted in strong forms of participation. Therefore, people were being asked to contribute substantively, with the aim of tapping meaningfully into what they knew and could do. There was a move towards asking people questions in a more structured way with a view to actually implementing what they suggested, for example on how to improve legislation and policies. 29. Ms. Noveck noted that the challenge with most participation efforts was that, for the most part, they were designed as an open call. Such efforts were limited in the way they enabled people to engage. As a result, several engagement efforts had failed because they had focused on the input without regard to the output. According to Ms. Noveck, recent developments were directed at using technology to maximize the opportunity to participate, by engaging people who were passionate and knowledgeable on a topic. Ms. Noveck noted that crowdsourcing wisely was better than crowdsourcing widely. She stressed, however, that such an approach was not meant to impact on the right of everyone to participate. 30. Caroline Ouaffo Wafang, regional gender adviser at the OHCHR regional office for West Africa, highlighted the steady change in the democratic space, not only in terms of the players involved but also regarding the forms of participation. She noted, in particular, the shift from individual to collective forms of participation through a variety of tools, approaches and strategies, including networks. Ms. Ouaffo Wafang also highlighted examples of best practice in regard to the use of new technologies. Referring to various other practices that had proved successful in increasing participation, Ms. Ouaffo Wafang cited a number of activities such as training sessions for awareness-raising and to build the capacity of people to engage in public speaking, including workshops where women were given their first opportunity to speak in public. She also gave the example of Burkina Faso, where the introduction of quotas had had a positive effect by increasing women’s participation by 30 per cent. 31. Maria Luisa Sotomayor, global U-report coordinator for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), provided an overview of the experience of UNICEF in using technology to promote the right to participate among young people. U-report, she said, was a social messaging tool designed to give young people and communities a chance to voice their opinions and create positive change. She explained how U-report teams in each country communicated instantly via various phone- and web-based channels. U-reporters ran weekly polls on issues affecting them, such as HIV/AIDS, violence, security, emergencies, crises, disease outbreaks, elections, and government programmes. The results of the polls were made available on public websites so that real-time data could contribute to achieving social change on the ground. The outcomes of polls were also broadcast through other media channels. A range of different channels of communication could be used by young people, depending on how they wanted to participate, including WhatsApp, Twitter, Telegram, SMS, the U-report application, and other means best fitting the context of each country. Ms. Sotomayor stated that the U-report could gather basic user data and was therefore able to channel polls targeting a specific interest group. The U-report programme would be launched in 11 countries in 2016. Currently, U-report was engaging with over 2 million young people and ensuring that their voices were heard on issues affecting their lives. 32. In the discussions that followed, participants debated issues around access to technologies aimed at increasing the participation of people, including members of disadvantaged groups and people in lower-income countries and rural areas. The possibility of using technology for engaging with multilateral organizations was also raised. It was suggested that recommendations on enhancing participation should go hand in hand with ways of dealing with other issues, and in particular with efforts related to education on the sharing of responsibilities in the domestic sphere. Speakers also stressed the role of 11