A/HRC/39/21 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 33/15, in which the Secretary-General was requested to report to the Council at its thirty-ninth session on the activities of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions in accrediting national institutions in accordance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles).1 2. The Paris Principles set a number of criteria necessary for a national human rights body to be considered as a national human rights institution. These include a broad mandate to promote and protect all human rights, clearly set forth in a constitutional or legislative text, affirming the independence of the institution, and indicating its sphere of competence and composition. 3. The Statute of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (hereinafter the Statute) mandates the Subcommittee on Accreditation to review and analyse the compliance of national human rights institutions with the Paris Principles and to accredit them as fully (A status) or partially (B status) compliant with these Principles. It is recalled that the C status classification, for institutions not compliant at all with the Paris Principles, was abolished in 2015. 4. To ensure a fair balance of regional representation, the rules of procedure of the Subcommittee on Accreditation (art. 3.1) require that it be composed of one national human rights institution with A status from each of the four regional networks of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, and Europe), appointed by the regional networks for a renewable term of three years. The members of the Subcommittee designate their Chair by consensus from among themselves, for a renewable term of one year. 5. Article 6 of the Statute of the Global Alliance requires that its general and Bureau meetings and the meetings of the Subcommittee on Accreditation be held under the auspices of and in cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The latter therefore assumes the secretariat functions of the Subcommittee on Accreditation. This entails the analysis and preparation of accreditation files, as well as the presence of OHCHR at all meetings of the Subcommittee on Accreditation, including during the deliberations and the adoption of reports. II. Accreditation during the period under review 6. On 20 February 2018, the Chair of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions convened a retreat on accreditation involving the members of the Subcommittee on Accreditation2 and its secretariat, the representative of the Global Alliance in Geneva and the representatives of the four regional networks of national human rights institutions. The retreat reviewed the working methods of the Subcommittee on Accreditation, including procedures and practices, and clarified procedural and substantive issues. 1 2 See General Assembly resolution 48/134, annex. In February 2018, the members of the Subcommittee on Accreditation were the national human rights institutions of Canada, France, Morocco and the Philippines. For Asia and the Pacific, the national human rights institution of Qatar replaced that of the Philippines, which was unable to attend the retreat. 3