A/HRC/20/9 80. On 11 July 2011, the Chairperson of the International Coordinating Committee of NHRIs and the NHRIs of Denmark, Ethiopia, France and Germany participated in a session organized by the Human Rights Committee on improving cooperation with NHRIs. 81. In June 2011, a regional seminar on follow-up to the concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was held in Pretoria, with about 30 participants from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe (Governmental officials, representatives of NHRIs and NGOs). 82. In November 2011, training for South African Government officials and NHRIs was held in Pretoria on treaty body reporting and implementation of treaty bodies’ recommendations. NHRIs and civil society representatives participated in the training, which introduced the treaty body system and, focusing on the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. C. Commission on the Status of Women 83. The International Coordinating Committee of NHRIs, with the support of OHCHR, continued its advocacy for “A” status NHRIs participation rights at annual sessions of the Commission, which helped to raise awareness of the role of NHRIs and the practical contributions they could make at the Commission’s sessions to better advance the rights of women and girls. At present, NHRIs may only participate at the Commission’s sessions if they are invited to attend as part of their Government’s delegation. In March 2011, the NHRIs of Australia, Jordan, Korea, New Zealand and the Philippines attended the fifty-fifth session of the Commission in New York. D. Other meetings 84. At the Fourth Conference of State Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the International Coordinating Committee delivered a statement on how the role of NHRIs in the work of the Conference can be formalized. A side event was organized in the margins of the Conference to discuss the role of NHRIs as independent mechanisms to promote, protect and monitor the rights of persons with disabilities. 85. In 2011, NHRIs were invited to contribute to panel discussions during the first sessions of the Open-ended Working Group on Ageing and expressed their readiness for a continued participation of NHRIs in the work thereof, based on practices established at the Human Rights Council and during the development of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. IV. Cooperation and support to national human rights institutions by United Nations agencies and programmes, and international and regional organizations A. United Nations Development Programme 86. Engagement with NHRIs is a priority area for OHCHR and UNDP, which have both been increasingly involved in the establishment and strengthening of NHRIs. Currently, UNDP and OHCHR support the establishment and strengthening of 80 NHRIs through joint technical cooperation initiatives, including advocacy for the establishment of NHRIs, capacity needs assessment, enhancing governments’ capacity to meet international treaty obligations and preparation for the universal periodic review. 14