A/HRC/39/24 preventive mechanism. Preventive visiting was about understanding the situation, and seeing what could be suggested to address problems or to make it less likely that human rights violations would take place. Thus the Subcommittee worked at the primary, secondary, tertiary and primordial levels. 61. He noted that the process was confidential, so that the Subcommittee could work with the State to improve the situation through practical and implementable recommendations. In one place of detention, for example, prisoners had not been let out of their cells for months because the front gates had fallen off, and therefore the Subcommittee had recommended fixing the front gates so that detainees could again exercise in the prison compound. Further practical and context-specific recommendations included paying prison officials properly and teaching them to read and write so that they could keep effective records. Finally, he stressed the importance of working with people who understood the local situation and empowering people at the national level to make a difference for human rights. 62. Mr. Zorrilla focused on the role of United Nations country teams and resident coordinators in preventing conflict and human rights abuses. While there seemed to be a tension between development and human rights, he argued that that perception should be overcome and we should rather focus on a human rights-based approach. United Nations country teams monitored the human rights situation, interacted with treaty bodies and special procedures, and reported on political developments that could pose a threat to peace and human rights. 63. Mr. Zorrilla noted that the United Nations country team in Tunisia was in a privileged position to articulate a preventive framework with good and broad cooperation. In 2012, the United Nations had provided technical support to the different commissions drafting the constitution and had helped civil society play a role in the legislative process. The adoption in July 2017 of a law on violence against women had been preceded by the provision of United Nations support to the Parliament since 2014, which had showed gaps between national law and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The United Nations had also supported the development of a national human rights institution in compliance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles). Further areas of focus included human rights education and planning and monitoring tools, including in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals. Finally, he noted that the Secretary-General’s Human Rights Up Front initiative enabled the United Nations system to get together when there were situations of concern in a country; a regional monthly review had been activated in January 2018 in reaction to protests and to lack of freedom for all protests in Tunisia, which had been triggered by concerns about economic, social and cultural rights. IV. Conclusions 64. Participants in the expert workshop echoed the Secretary-General’s statement that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the international treaties deriving from it, constituted the best prevention tool, since they identified many of the root causes of conflict, but equally, provided real-world solutions.19 65. Prevention can encompass four types of measures: primary prevention addresses the root causes; secondary prevention focuses on a rapid response to the earliest signs; tertiary prevention aims to minimize harm once the problem is in full flight; and primordial prevention focuses on minimizing future threats and maximizing conditions that are antithetical to human rights erosion over the longer term. 19 14 See www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/speeches/2017-02-27/secretary-generals-human-rights-councilremarks.