A/HRC/43/31
building, in line with its mandate, in consultation with and with the consent of the State
concerned.
90.
Pursuant to the request of the Assembly, OHCHR created in 2015 the treaty body
capacity-building programme, implemented by a group of staff at OHCHR headquarters in
Geneva and by a number of capacity-building officers in OHCHR regional presences. The
programme aims:
(a)
To organize regional train-the-trainers events annually, to provide potential
trainers from States with the knowledge and skills to support States parties to treaties in their
engagement with the treaty bodies;
(b)
To establish a roster of trainers from among State officials with extensive
experience in treaty body reporting, to create a community of learning and to facilitate the
exchange of lessons learned from other roster members;
(c)
To provide requesting States parties with assistance on the establishment of
national mechanisms for reporting and follow-up, and to prepare a study and practical guide
on key features of mechanisms;
(d)
To provide requesting States parties with assistance for treaty-specific
reporting, including for the preparation of common core documents;
(e)
database;
To maintain and update the Universal Human Rights Index and the treaty body
(f)
To create a capacity-building portal on reporting to the treaty bodies;
(g)
To launch a general training manual on treaty reporting;
(h)
To develop treaty-specific training modules, including online.
91.
The treaty body capacity-building programme has had a number of successful
outcomes, including the publication of National Mechanisms for Reporting and Follow-up.
This guide aims to provide training facilities with information on the treaty bodies, and the
tools and resources necessary to develop a course on reporting to them. Its objective is to
help States gain knowledge on the United Nations treaty body system, particularly the
reporting processes involved and the roles of different stakeholders. In this way, States parties
are enabled to fulfil their reporting obligations and to engage with the treaty bodies in a
sustainable and meaningful way.
92.
The programme has also overseen the publication of a training guide, which comprises
two parts: a manual on the treaty body reporting process; and a facilitator’s guide on reporting.
93.
The programme is furthermore developing treaty-specific training manuals and trainer
guides. Completing the current training guide on the Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities, a practical guide for national preventive mechanisms on torture prevention
was launched on 2018. Trainer guides on the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights are being
prepared. OHCHR contributed to the development by UN-Women of an online training
programme on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women. All of the afore-mentioned publications and online training courses are designed to
help States to increasingly engage with the international human rights mechanisms.
94.
Between 2015 and 2017, the capacity-building programme enhanced the skills and
knowledge of more than 350 State officials from 135 States, who have since become trained
trainers on treaty reporting. Furthermore, technical assistance has been provided to some 70
States at the national level on specific human rights treaties and on reporting. This assistance
has resulted in new ratifications; the submission of updated common core documents and
outstanding State party reports; more constructive dialogue with the treaty bodies; and greater
interest in a number of States in establishing a national mechanism for reporting and followup (see A/73/309).
95.
The overall number of ratifications of the 18 human rights treaties and optional
protocols, including declarations recognizing the competence of a committee to consider
individual communications, rose from a total of 2,300 in 2015 to 2,386 in 2017, a 3.7 per
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