A/HRC/33/33 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 27/18, in which it requested the Secretary-General to report to the Council at its thirty-third session on the implementation of that resolution. 2. The present report outlines progress achieved since the previous relevant report of the Secretary-General (A/HRC/27/39), between September 2014 and August 2016. It should be read in conjunction with the report of the Secretary-General to the Human Rights Council on the activities of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions — the former International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights — in accrediting national institutions in compliance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles) (A/HRC/33/36). 3. In resolution 27/18, the Human Rights Council reiterated the important role of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in assisting the development of independent and effective national human rights institutions in accordance with the Paris Principles. It also recognized the potential for strengthened and complementary cooperation among OHCHR, the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, regional coordinating committees of national institutions and national institutions. The Council also emphasized the role of independent national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights in working together with their governments to ensure full respect for human rights at the national level, including by contributing, as appropriate, to follow-up to the recommendations of international human rights mechanisms. 4. The Council encouraged the Secretary-General to continue to give high priority to Member States’ requests for assistance in the establishment and strengthening of national human rights institutions in accordance with the Paris Principles. II. Support of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to national human rights institutions A. Advisory services 5. The National Institutions, Regional Mechanisms and Civil Society Section of OHCHR is responsible for the coordination of the activities of the Office to establish and/or strengthen national human rights institutions. Together with OHCHR field presences, other United Nations entities, in particular the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and regional networks of national human rights institutions, OHCHR assists governments in establishing national human rights institutions and/or contributes to building the capacity of such institutions. In that context, OHCHR works closely with regional intergovernmental organizations, academic institutions, civil society organizations and other stakeholders. 6. OHCHR provides national human rights institutions and other stakeholders with technical and legal assistance, particularly regarding constitutional and legislative frameworks relating to the establishment, nature, functions, powers and responsibilities of institutions. It also conducts and supports comparative analyses, technical cooperation projects, needs assessments and evaluation missions to establish and strengthen the capacity of national human rights institutions to discharge their mandate effectively. GE.16-11355 3