A/HRC/33/24 21. In Zambia, in 2015, there was an effort to replicate the technical guidance processes carried out in other countries. In that regard, at the initiative of UNFPA, a preliminary meeting was convened with various stakeholders, including the Population Council, the National Human Rights Institution, the Women and Law in Southern Africa Research and Education Trust and OHCHR to discuss the current status of sexual and reproductive health and rights in Zambia and identify priority areas for the future. These entail: an independent human rights assessment; the facilitation of an orientation meeting with government officials; civil society organizations raising awareness about human rights-based approaches to sexual and reproductive health; the subsequent facilitation of a multistakeholder national dialogue to disseminate the preliminary findings of the assessment, receive feedback and secure consensus on policy and programme directions; and the development of a country report on a rights-based approach to sexual and reproductive health programming in Zambia. 22. Those three multi-stakeholder processes illustrate the critical importance of the engagement, initiative and leadership of a variety of partners, including the Government, civil society, health workers, parliamentarians, statisticians, the judiciary and the United Nations, capitalizing on the strategic advantage of differently situated stakeholders. B. Legislative reform 23. Several stakeholders also report using the technical guidance or the human rights principles enshrined therein as an assessment or monitoring tool to examine and amend existing legislation. Submissions from States, such as Georgia, Greece, Madagascar, Mali and the Republic of Moldova, highlighted how their national laws are aligned with the technical guidance. 24. Civil society groups also reported using the technical guidance in their advocacy for law reform. For instance, in the United States of America, the Center for Reproductive Rights reports drawing upon the technical guidance to present a “menu” of options at the state level to work towards human rights compliance. The International Pregnancy Advisory Services (IPAS) indicates that the technical guidance has informed its work with the Government of Sierra Leone to address the high rate of maternal mortality, including from unsafe abortion, and to advocate for law reforms, such as a bill legalizing abortion currently awaiting approval. C. Planning and budgeting 25. Several stakeholders report using the technical guidance or the human rights principles enshrined therein as an assessment or monitoring tool to examine, amend and adopt policies and programmes with particular attention given to vulnerable population groups, for instance in El Salvador, the European Union, Madagascar, Peru and Slovakia. In Chile and the Republic of Moldova the engagement of and collaboration and partnerships between multiple stakeholders was also emphasized. The submissions received from Colombia, Finland, Lithuania and the Netherlands explained that a human rightsbased approach is explicitly incorporated into health policies. Some States, such as Qatar, have indicated the usefulness of the guidance, where others, such as Burundi, signalled its value in the elaboration of future policies. 26. The technical guidance has also been utilized in efforts to promote and implement human rights-based approaches to budgeting for maternal health. For instance, SAHAYOG and the National Alliance for Maternal Health and Human Rights in India, drawing considerably on the technical guidance, provided reports, expert briefings, data and policy 7