A/HRC/34/25 an important avenue through which the Human Rights Council can further contribute to thematic and country reviews of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, and to promoting further linkages between the Goals and all human rights, including economic, social and cultural rights. In its State, United Nations system and stakeholder reports and recommendations, the universal periodic review can serve as a comprehensive source of information on integrating human rights into the processes for the implementation and monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals. To facilitate making such linkages, OHCHR has upgraded the Universal Human Rights Index (http://uhri.ohchr.org/en/) to introduce new search categories so that recommendations or observations made by human rights mechanisms are searchable on the basis of the 17 Goals. 48. Such engagement, and the contributions of international human rights mechanisms with the processes for the implementation and monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals, should be deepened and become a norm. In this context, the Human Rights Council, in a welcome development, provided, at the request of the President of Economic and Social Council, substantive contributions to the most recent session of the high-level political forum, held in July 2016. As the thematic focus of the forum in 2016 was on leaving no one behind, the contributions made by human rights bodies focused on their work in the field of equality and non-discrimination. Human rights bodies were requested again to contribute to the session of the forum in 2017, which will have a thematic focus on eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing world, pursuant to General Assembly resolution 70/299. 49. As independent institutions of accountability, national human rights institutions have a critical role to play in monitoring and ensuring that national implementation of the 2030 Agenda is conducted in accordance with international human rights standards and principles. In recognition thereof, participants in the twelfth International Conference of the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, held in Mérida, Yucatàn, Mexico, from 8 to 10 October 2015, adopted the Mérida Declaration on the role of national human rights institutions in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In the Declaration, participants emphasized that national human rights institutions were uniquely placed to play a bridging role between stakeholders and to promote transparent, participatory and inclusive national processes of implementation and monitoring. They could also contribute to a human rights-based implementation of the 2030 Agenda by, inter alia: (a) Assessing the impact of laws, policies, programmes, national development plans, administrative practices and budgets on the realization of all human rights; (b) Promoting transparent and inclusive processes for participation and consultation with rights-holders and civil society at all stages of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda; (c) Holding Governments to account for poor or uneven progress in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda; (d) Responding to allegations of rights violations in the context of development and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, including in relation to discrimination and inequality; 12