A/HRC/41/25 responses to communications and follow-up questions and recommendations or decisions received from such mechanisms; (b) Coordination capacity: the capacity and authority to disseminate information, and to organize and coordinate information-gathering and data collection from government entities and other State actors for reporting and follow-up to recommendations; (c) Consultation capacity: the capacity to foster and lead consultations with the country’s national human rights institution and civil society; (d) Information management capacity: the capacity to track the issuance of recommendations and decisions by the international and regional human rights mechanisms, systematically capture and thematically cluster those outcomes, identify the government ministries and/or agencies responsible for their implementation, develop follow-up plans and manage information regarding the implementation of treaty provisions and recommendations, including with a view to preparing the next periodic report. 19. Many Member States have made voluntary commitments or have received and supported recommendations to establish national mechanisms for reporting and follow-up, especially in the context of the universal periodic review, and are also working together to share their experiences in this field. A Group of Friends on the mechanisms offers a broad informal platform for States from all regions, United Nations agencies, national human rights institutions, civil society and other relevant stakeholders, to share good practices on national implementation, coordination, impact, reporting and follow-up, and to discuss common challenges and lessons learned. The Group of Friends is led by Portugal and consists of 27 States. 20. OHCHR provides advice and assistance to Member States on national mechanisms for reporting and follow-up, including through its treaty body capacity-building programme, the Voluntary Fund for financial and technical assistance for the implementation of the universal periodic review and the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights. In 2018, OHCHR supported some 11 countries in the establishment of such mechanisms, or the strengthening of their capacities. For example, in Cambodia, OHCHR supported the Inter-Institutional Commission in the definition of a follow-up programme to the recommendations from the universal periodic review and other international mechanisms. At the regional level, OHCHR organized three peer-learning events to share good practices on national mechanisms for reporting and follow-up in Serbia (with the participation of representatives from 6 countries), Uruguay (with the participation of representatives from 18 countries) and in Geneva (jointly organized with the Group of Friends on national mechanisms for reporting and follow-up). 21. The importance of establishing or strengthening national mechanisms for reporting and follow-up was also highlighted by three regional workshops on good practices for implementation in the context of the third cycle of the universal periodic review organized in 2018 by OHCHR in Kampala (in cooperation with the national human rights institution and with the participation of representatives from 18 countries); in Dakar (jointly with the International Organization of la Francophonie (OIF) and with the participation of representatives from 36 countries); and in Praia (jointly with the Community of Portuguese Language Countries and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and with the participation of representatives from 9 Portuguese-speaking countries). B. Developing national human rights action plans and plans for the implementation of recommendations of human rights mechanisms 22. National human rights action plans offer a structured and practical approach to strengthening the realization of human rights by placing human rights improvements in the context of public policy. Such plans, which vary in scope and focus, are aimed at identifying and addressing gaps in the national human rights protection system. Existing national laws, policies and other institutional frameworks are considered and the aim is to address the human rights protection gaps thus identified through consultation with all stakeholders, based on baseline assessments, through collaboration across government 5