A/HRC/37/3 field of human rights (A/HRC/36/31), referred to 39 cases of reprisals in 29 countries, the largest number ever witnessed. At the 2017 Dublin Platform on human rights defenders, held in October, OHCHR expressed serious concern at the current backlash against civil society and human rights defenders. 71. In October 2017, OHCHR and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights launched a joint action mechanism to contribute to the protection of human rights defenders in the Americas. OHCHR also supported women human rights defenders in various Middle East and North African countries in establishing a regional network. 72. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, OHCHR addressed 524 cases of threats and other human rights violations against human rights defenders, journalists and other media professionals, as well as cases of victims and witnesses of human rights violations committed during the period under review. 73. OHCHR continued to advocate for laws and mechanisms to protect human rights defenders, for instance in Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala, Kenya, Mauritania, Myanmar, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Tunisia, and in Central America. In Guatemala, OHCHR provided technical assistance for the development of a public policy on attacks against human rights defenders, working with the Office of the Attorney General for the development of an internal protocol. OHCHR strengthened protection programmes for civil society, including in Brazil, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Fiji, Guatemala, Kenya, Mauritania, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Tunisia. In Burkina Faso and Togo, it provided advice to civil society actors on the creation of a mechanism and on recourse procedures. The Office provided training for civil society organizations, for instance in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, to improve public participation. It supported the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists in establishing a monitoring unit on the safety of journalists, whose main responsibilities are to publish reports on attacks against journalists and to provide victims with legal advice and assistance. 2. Electoral processes 74. In collaboration with the Carter Centre, OHCHR sought to bring together the electoral observation and human rights communities to strengthen a human rights-based approach to elections. At the final meeting, held in December 2017, participants endorsed a human rights and elections plan of action. 75. OHCHR worked with UN-Women and the Economic Community of West African States to facilitate greater participation of women in elections in 14 States in West and Central Africa. 76. In Afghanistan, in order to increase the participation of women in the elections to be held in 2018 as candidates, voters and staff, OHCHR produced a reference report (nonpublic), based on 13 country-wide consultations with 364 women and men who shared their views on factors limiting or facilitating women’s participation in electoral processes, that was disseminated among government and other stakeholders. 3. Support for parliaments and national human rights institutions 77. The updated Human Rights: A Handbook for Parliamentarians was reissued by OHCHR and the Inter-Parliamentary Union in October 2017. 78. OHCHR provided advice and/or assistance for the establishment or strengthening of some 70 national human rights institutions, including in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iceland, Kuwait, Lebanon, Madagascar, Seychelles, South Sudan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. It also conducted regional activities in support of national human rights institutions, for instance with the Arab and African networks of national human rights institutions, and the Central Asia support initiative for national human rights institutions. 79. OHCHR continued to serve as the secretariat of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions and its Subcommittee on Accreditation, which reviewed 28 institutions during the reporting period. 13