A/HRC/7/31 page 12 13. Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative [Original: English] [30 November 2007] (a) In its response, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) referred to Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) resolution 1996/31 which “confirms the need to take into account the full diversity of the non-governmental organizations at the national and international levels”, and encourages the need for greater participation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from developing countries and countries with economies in transition in international conferences convened by the United Nations. (b) CHRI welcomed the openness of the Human Rights Council to receiving both written statements and oral interventions from NGOs. The organization expressed understanding that an accreditation mechanism has to be followed, but cautioned that restricting this process to NGOs having ECOSOC consultative status would significantly limit the scope of the civil society allowed to participate. (c) The organization provided specific comments on the participation of NGOs in the universal periodic review mechanism. As concerns the national consultations to be held in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 5/1, the organization expressed the view that the Council should effectively encourage and review the process, in order to ensure that States are fulfilling their pledges to encourage and facilitate civil society participation. This review should encompass all steps taken by the Government, including transparency regarding the holding of national consultations, as well as provision of information on the variety of NGOs participating therein. Moreover, CHRI requested that more time be given to NGOs to prepare their submissions. The organization expressed concern regarding the page limitation of the summary of stakeholder information prepared by OHCHR, as this would not be sufficient to provide comprehensive information as to the general situation of human rights in a particular country. -----