A/HRC/43/32 OHCHR participated in a meeting of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance to learn from experiences in combating racism and discrimination in Europe. 7. Pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 34/17, an eight-week programme was developed by the National Institutions and Regional Mechanisms Section of OHCHR. Eight staff from regional mechanisms have already benefited from the programme, which started in June 2019. 8. The main aim of the programme is to enable staff of the secretariats of regional mechanisms to gain experience within the United Nations human rights system. Participants received briefings on the work of the United Nations human rights mechanisms, attended sessions of the Human Rights Council, the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review and the treaty bodies. They also worked in various sections of OHCHR, during which time they shared their expertise related to the functioning of regional mechanisms with OHCHR staff. II. Progress in cooperation between United Nations and regional human rights mechanisms since 2016 9. In accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 34/17, the first session of the workshop was devoted to taking stock of developments since the workshop on regional arrangements held in 2016. Participants highlighted challenges and shared best practices in implementing the recommendations arising from that workshop and highlighted key human rights developments in their respective regions. The Deputy United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Ambassador of Belgium to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva opened the workshop and were followed by speakers from the various regional human rights mechanisms. A. Challenges 10. Representatives of regional mechanisms highlighted non-compliance with their decisions as a major common challenge. Concerning cooperation among regional mechanisms, participants highlighted the need for better coordination, particularly in the context of financial constraints, and also the need to undertake joint activities and to ensure an efficient exchange of information and best practices. 11. The representative of the ECOWAS Court of Justice noted that the Court’s engagement with civil society and human rights defenders to enhance the visibility of its decisions had generated more active advocacy aimed at encouraging member States to implement the Court’s decisions. 12. The ECOWAS Court of Justice had signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation with the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The memorandum includes an action plan for the exchange of documents, jurisprudence and staff, joint capacity-building and resource mobilization for projects. 13. In April 2019, the ECOWAS Court of Justice organized its first judicial dialogue with the judges of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in follow-up to the one organized by the African Court in Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania, in February and March 2018. The dialogue provided the judges of both Courts with the opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences concerning their mandate. B. Good practices, including cooperation 14. The ECOWAS Court of Justice had established the West African Judges Association and had institutionalized a forum for dialogue and exchange of ideas between judges and legal practitioners from various member States and the Court. Forum participants would also discuss and analyse the application of international human rights norms in national justice systems. 15. The representative of the East African Court of Justice reported that, after participating in the OHCHR programme for regional human rights mechanisms held from 3

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