A/HRC/4/81 page 2 Introduction 1. In its resolution 2004/78, the Commission on Human Rights requested the Secretary-General to report to the Commission at its sixty-second session on measures taken to implement that resolution and on obstacles to its implementation, including efforts of the treaty bodies to integrate a gender perspective throughout their work. In its decision 2/102, the Human Rights Council requested the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue with the fulfilment of their activities, in accordance with all previous decisions adopted by the Commission on Human Rights and to update the relevant reports and studies. The present report is submitted pursuant to that request. Developments in the human rights treaty body system, including harmonization of working methods 2. The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance was adopted by the General Assembly on 20 December 2006 in resolution 61/177. The Convention will be open for signature in Paris as of 6 February 2007. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol were adopted by the General Assembly on 13 December 2006 in resolution 61/106 and both will be open for signature in New York as of 30 March 2007. 3. The current working methods of the human rights treaty bodies relating to the reporting process are compiled in an update of the comparative report on the working methods of all committees presented to the fifth Inter-Committee Meeting (ICM) and eighteenth meeting of human rights chairpersons (HRI/MC/2006/4). This report provides information on current reporting, the conduct of constructive dialogue with States parties, postponement of the consideration of reports and consideration of reports in the absence of a delegation. The report also includes information on the adoption of, and follow-up to, concluding observations, strategies to encourage reporting by States parties, including consideration of implementation in the absence of a report, the participation of United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), national human rights institutions (NHRIs) in the reporting process, interaction of treaty bodies with special procedures, as well as other treaty body activities. 4. Based on authorization provided by the General Assembly in resolution 60/230, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) held three annual sessions in 2006, and also met in parallel chambers during its thirty-sixth annual session in August 2006. As a result, the Committee nearly doubled the number of States parties’ reports it considered during 2006 from that of previous years, from an average of 16 to 31. The Committee adopted working methods for its meetings in parallel chambers, which are contained in its report on its thirty-fifth session (A/61/38, part II, paras. 364 to 380). 5. CEDAW also adopted guidelines on the role and functions of country rapporteurs (see A/61/38, part II, paras. 388 to 399), clarifying their roles and functions in relation to three phases of the consideration of reports. The Committee also revised its guidelines for submission of reports by United Nations specialized agencies and other bodies (A/61/38, part I, annex II) and encouraged the Inter-Parliamentary Union to submit country-specific information pertaining to the implementation of the Convention in States parties.