A/HRC/19/31 E/CN.6/2012/12 Policy-makers and Practitioners 2 in Bangladesh, Jamaica, Mali and the Republic of Moldova. 14. In Cairo in October 2011, UN-Women, the Office of the High Commissioner and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) co-organized the Forum for Young Women and Men in the Arab Uprising: Agents of Democratic Change. The Executive Director of UN-Women and the Chief of the Rule of Law, Equality and Non-Discrimination Branch of the Office of the High Commissioner participated in this meeting, which aimed at developing a forward-looking agenda for promoting women’s active participation in the transitional processes in the region, with a focus on the legislative, economic, social and leadership issues involved and on identifying priority needs in capacity-building as they affect young women and men as agents of change. In November 2011, UN-Women and the Office of the High Commissioner jointly organized a meeting in Uganda on issues of justice and amnesty for conflict-related crimes in order to foster more in-depth consultations on the forthcoming renewal of the amnesty bill with communities and, in particular, affected women. 15. UN-Women and the Office of the High Commissioner provide support to countries in implementing their obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women through regional and country offices and in close coordination with the United Nations country teams. This encompasses a range of activities, including training and capacity-building workshops and other support for preparation of country reports. As examples in this regard, there have been workshops in Peru, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Sierra Leone, and consultations in Kosovo and elsewhere, aimed at strengthening engagement of Governments and other stakeholders in reporting on the implementation of the Convention. UN-Women and the Office of the High Commissioner have provided support to countries in preparing for the constructive dialogue with the Committee, including sponsorship of Government officials of Côte d’Ivoire and Zimbabwe as observers at the forty-ninth and fiftieth sessions of the Committee in July and October 2011, as well as support through “mock sessions”, in Oman, for example. UN-Women and the Office of the High Commissioner have also provided support in the area of follow-up to concluding observations, including to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic in the preparation of its follow-up report. There has also been training associated with the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. 3 UN-Women often organizes workshops and training sessions specifically on the Convention, and regularly invites members of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to participate. Training sessions organized by the Office of the High Commissioner on Convention implementation are frequently held within training sessions with a broader focus, on treaty body reporting. For example, a training workshop on reporting to the human rights treaty bodies held in the Gambia focused, inter alia, on the drafting of the Common Core Document, as well as the periodic report to the Committee. UN-Women and the Office of the High Commissioner have also cooperated in providing support to countries, for example, Pakistan and Thailand, in preparing or following up on the universal periodic review of the Human Rights Council. __________________ 2 3 11-63199 United Nations publication, Sales No. E.10.III.B.32. United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2131, No. 20378. 7