A/HRC/37/3 I. Introduction 1. The present report, submitted to the Human Rights Council pursuant to General Assembly resolution 48/141, contains an overview of the work of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva, New York and through its country and regional human rights presences, from 1 December 2016 to 30 November 2017. It follows the thematic priorities that are reflected in the OHCHR Management Plan for the period 2014-2017. In the period under review, the Office also embarked on developing its next Management Plan, for the period 2018-2021. 2. As at 30 November 2017, OHCHR had 57 presences worldwide: 15 country or stand-alone offices; 12 regional presences; 13 human rights components of United Nations peace missions; and 17 human rights advisers embedded in United Nations country teams. 3. During the period under review, the High Commissioner conducted missions to El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Guatemala, the Holy See, Ireland, Kuwait, Libya, Luxembourg, Oman, Peru, Slovenia, Sweden, Uruguay, the United States of America, and Uzbekistan. The Deputy High Commissioner visited Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America. The Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights visited Belgium, Canada, the Central African Republic, Colombia, France, Honduras, Ireland, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Morocco, Somalia, South Sudan, Switzerland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America. 4. The period under review witnessed ongoing conflicts and humanitarian crises, with civilians continuing to bear the brunt. Globally, 65 million people have been compelled to leave their homes, with 22.5 million refugees among them, of whom half are children. Minority and vulnerable groups endured persecution and violence; violations of this type also drove massive population movements. Threats to democracy and the rule of law were also witnessed, including widespread actions to undermine civil society and human rights defenders. The threats posed by terrorist groups continued to morph and increase despite some military successes against them. There were continuing attempts to consolidate nationalist and protectionist positions, entailing risks to the multilateral system of cooperation between States. At the same time, there were some encouraging developments, including citizens and movements pushing back against different forms of discrimination and hatred, extremism and populism, signalling that individuals and groups are prepared to stand up for rights and freedoms for all. II. Thematic priorities of the Office of the High Commissioner A. 1. Strengthening international human rights mechanisms Treaty bodies 5. OHCHR facilitated the review by the treaty bodies of 158 State party reports; the adoption of views and decisions on more than 221 individual communications; visits to 10 States by the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; the issuance of seven general comments; and the initiation of eight confidential inquiries. The Office registered 297 complaints by individuals alleging violations of their human rights, but lack of adequate resources prevented timely action on them. A total of 1,274 communications were pending a decision by the treaty bodies. The Committee on Enforced Disappearances registered 442 urgent actions, of which 36 were discontinued or closed after the disappeared person was located. Webcasting of all treaty body sessions was extended to June 2018. 6. The treaty body capacity-building programme sponsored five train-the-trainers events on reporting under the treaties. State officials from some 70 States increased their knowledge and skills on the treaties and their reporting requirements. To date, more than 2