A/HRC/39/34 States to conduct regular and inclusive reviews of progress at the national and subnational levels that were country-led and country-driven, which were expected to serve as a basis for the regular reviews by the high-level political forum. Those review processes were to be open to participation by various stakeholders. And yet, all reporting of States was voluntary and the space for participation by actors other than States remained limited. In that context, the experts discussed the potential role of national and international human rights mechanisms in strengthening accountability for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. 35. At the national level, the experts highlighted the role of national human rights institutions. The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights had signed a memorandum of understanding in 2017 to mainstream a human rights-based approach to data in official statistics. Such collaboration had raised awareness on mainstreaming a human-rights based approach to data and had resulted in the identification of groups and individuals being “left behind” in the monitoring of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. 36. In Azerbaijan, the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights had developed indicators to track progress by the Government in meeting its human rights obligations in relation to sexual and reproductive health. 13 Those indicators had been developed on the basis of the most recent recommendations made by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and in the context of the universal periodic review of the Human Rights Council in six areas: reproductive health information and services; abortion; maternal health; violence against women; comprehensive and age-appropriate education on sexual and reproductive health and rights; and HIV/AIDS. The Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights had reached an agreement with the Government to update the indicator matrix biannually. 37. Participants noted that the process of voluntary national reporting was gaining traction;14 it had generated debate and political commitment at the national level and had legitimized the interaction of women’s groups and civil society at large with government authorities. In that context, the experts suggested that it would be crucial that national review processes were informed of country-specific recommendations on gender equality and women’s rights issued by the international human rights mechanisms and that national human rights institutions could play a key role in integrating such recommendations in the monitoring of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda at the national level. 38. At the international level, the review process of the high-level political forum on sustainable development was not compulsory and did not provide feedback such as observations or recommendations. At the forum, time allocated for substantive examination and discussion, and for the participation of civil society organizations and rights holders, was very limited. In that context the United Nations human rights mechanisms, such as the universal periodic review process and the special procedures of the Human Rights Council, and the human rights treaty monitoring bodies, could play a key role in strengthening accountability for implementing the 2030 Agenda. The experts emphasized that the regular review processes of the human rights mechanisms were well informed by inputs not only from States but also from civil society organizations, national human rights institutions and other actors, and that the recommendations generated from their country reviews could complement the review processes for the 2030 Agenda. Thematic analysis and guidance developed by those mechanisms would also be useful for various stakeholders, including States, business enterprises and civil society organizations, to advance the 2030 Agenda in accordance with international human rights standards. 39. Many treaty bodies were making efforts to ensure their recommendations could be more easily used to monitor the Sustainable Development Goals. For example, the 13 14 10 See the report by the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the United Nations Population Fund, “Assessment of the implementation status of treaty body recommendations on sexual and reproductive health and rights in the Republic of Azerbaijan”, Baku, 2015. Available at http://azerbaijan.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/A4_eng.pdf. As at 21 June 2018, 141 reports have been submitted. See https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/vnrs/.