A/HRC/18/40 dialogue, and hopes to resume them shortly. In Darfur, while the establishment of human rights subforums in North and West Darfur was welcomed as a positive step towards cooperation between UNAMID and local authorities, only the West Darfur subforum has operated successfully. The subforum in North Darfur has been repeatedly postponed. 14. On 19 October 2010, the United Nations, in conjunction with the Government of South Sudan, the diplomatic community and civil society, launched the Southern Sudan Human Rights Forum. The Forum will identify strategies to address human rights challenges in Southern Sudan, including advocacy and support for capacity-building activities. In its resolution 10/11, in which the Human Rights Council established the mandate of the independent expert, the Council requested the mandate holder to engage with the human rights forums in the Sudan. III. Northern Sudan 15. The Sudan has made some noteworthy progress in human rights promotion and protection, including upholding political rights and freedoms during the South Sudan selfdetermination referendum. Although the pre-registration period was marked by threatening political rhetoric and provocative statements made by officials of the ruling National Congress Party against southerners living in the North, the overall referendum process was hailed by the international community as a major achievement. Both the Government of the Sudan and the Government of Southern Sudan made tremendous efforts to ensure a peaceful and credible referendum process, the results of which were readily accepted. The Government of the Sudan is also more engaged with the United Nations human rights institutions, and participated effectively in the universal periodic review in May 2011. 16. In spite of the above-mentioned achievements, the Sudan continues to face daunting human rights challenges in terms of securing basic fundamental rights, in particular the right to liberty and security of person and the right to freedom of expression, and the effective administration of justice. The Government has remained adamant that it will open 7