A/HRC/31/53 Protection of Human Rights, which is usually held with OHCHR support in conjunction with the March session of the Human Rights Council. Each annual meeting provides a venue to share information on thematic issues, and a future meeting could provide an opportunity to discuss ways that national human rights institutions could support the implementation of human rights relating to the environment. Human rights treaty bodies 34. Human rights treaty monitoring bodies have contributed significantly to clarifying State obligations in connection to human rights relating to the environment. The Special Rapporteur has developed five reports on the work of the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Rights of the Child. Each of the reports looks at the relevant interpretations of their respective treaties by the committees in their country reports, views on communications and general comments.7 35. In addition to continuing to receive communications on environmental issues, treaty bodies could further the implementation of human rights obligations relating to the environment by holding days of general discussion and issuing general comments on the relationship of human rights and the environment. Days of general discussion present an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of the application of a convention to specific issues. These meetings are open to public participation, including representatives from Governments, United Nations mechanisms, United Nations bodies and specialized agencies, civil society organizations and national human rights institutions. Interested individuals and organizations can submit written contributions and participate in the discussions. Potential outcomes include recommendations, calls for further studies and the drafting of general comments. 36. The Special Rapporteur will participate in a day of general discussion that the Committee on the Rights of the Child plans to hold in September 2016, with a specific focus on the human rights of the child to enjoy a healthy environment. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is also considering the preparation of a general comment that would address environmental issues. International Organization for Migration 37. Since the early 1990s, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has had a wide-ranging policy, research and operational programme on migration, environment and climate change. IOM has developed projects in over 40 countries, including in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific.8 38. Together with a group of six partners, IOM is currently implementing a three-year research project funded by the European Union that aims at building knowledge on the linkages between migration and environmental change, including climate change. The programme has three main components: (a) strengthening knowledge and information sharing; (b) providing capacity-building for Governments; and (c) facilitating policy 7 8 8 The reports are available from http://srenvironment.org/mapping-report-2014-2/ and www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Environment/SREnvironment/Pages/MappingReport.aspx. See Migration, Environment and Climate Change: Assessing the Evidence, p. 5. Available from http://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/migration_and_environment.pdf.

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