A/HRC/35/20 Many Member States are also in an excellent position to provide technical cooperation in the field of human rights, including innovative South-South cooperation in many areas and regions. One important step in that direction is to further document and share lessons learned from technical cooperation experiences, for instance with respect to national coordination mechanisms for implementation, or national human rights action plans. 75. Since the establishment of the Human Rights Council, OHCHR has enhanced its capacity as a fully results-oriented organization improving its capacity to monitor the implementation and impact of its technical cooperation programme, including through its performance monitoring system and periodic evaluations. This strengthened capacity facilitates useful replication of success stories. Therefore, the development of tools applicable to entire regions (model laws, protocols and so on) will be one important way forward in order to increasingly strengthen States’ capacity to promote, protect and fulfil rights. 76. All United Nations agencies provide some form of technical cooperation to States and national stakeholders on issues directly influencing rights holders’ enjoyment of human rights. Increasingly, that cooperation is harnessed by the United Nations Development Assistance Frameworks and is developed in line with, or even guided by, human rights recommendations emanating from the international human rights system. Some of the larger United Nations agencies, programmes and funds, which have extremely extensive networks of field presences, are also the ones most involved in technical cooperation to promote, protect and fulfil rights, normally in very close cooperation with OHCHR. 77. Regional organizations play a crucial role in supporting the realization of rights. Most of them, however, are focused on monitoring and advising on the implementation of States’ regional treaty obligations, rather than designing and implementing technical cooperation projects. 78. Looking forward, technical cooperation will be part and parcel of an effective third cycle of the universal periodic review process (2017-2021), which will be crucial in following up on and advancing human rights achievements at the national level in close cooperation with governments and other national stakeholders and with the support of the international community. States, national human rights institutions and civil society actors will be able to count on technical cooperation support from the United Nations, but more needs to be done to better align development and human rights efforts at the country level in order to deal effectively with human rights gaps in implementation and thus address root causes. 79. Technical cooperation has also proved to be a critical vehicle in support of and contributing to national development objectives in line with human rights standards. At the global level, the Millennium Development Goals, and now the Sustainable Development Goals, have guided and are guiding national development policies, which have increasingly translated into clearer State commitments to economic, social and cultural rights, as well as civil and political rights. Addressing the causes of human rights violations is also part of the Secretary-General’s renewed emphasis on prevention. Technical cooperation can play an important role in implementing recommendations from the universal periodic review and other human rights mechanisms, which is a crucial step towards development and crisis prevention. 16

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