A/HRC/7/68 page 4 A. Strengthening national human rights capacity 5. A critical measure of the impact of OHCHR lies in the strengthening of national human rights mechanisms, including State institutions and civil society organizations. In addition to strengthening national capacity through advice and recommendations resulting from its monitoring and legal work, OHCHR undertook numerous training initiatives, workshops, briefings on specialized issues and on-the-job mentoring. The National Human Rights Commission, civil society and law enforcement agencies were targeted as priority beneficiaries. 6. Among the major initiatives were workshops in 11 districts on the theme “Human rights and the peace process”, which brought together local authorities, police, political parties, civil society and others to encourage dialogue and coordinate responses to human rights problems, especially in the Terai districts. 7. Following Parliament’s confirmation, in early September 2007, of five commissioners, OHCHR worked with the National Human Rights Commission to identify strategies for strengthening cooperation. Although concerns were expressed that the appointment procedures did not fully reach international standards, OHCHR viewed the appointments as a significant opportunity for the Commission to develop into an independent, credible and effective institution. In October, after an 18-month review, the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights recommended A-status accreditation but made observations on several matters reviewable after one year, including financial autonomy, interaction with the United Nations human rights system and with civil society. 8. OHCHR organized training sessions for Commission staff on, inter alia, human rights investigation, documentation, elections, economic, social and cultural rights, transitional justice, advocacy, legislative review, human rights education, litigation and anti-trafficking. OHCHR trained 15 staff members to help establish a training unit, and provided its recommendations to the Commission on strengthening draft legislation defining the Commission’s functions, duties, powers and working procedures in the light of its new status as a constitutional body. 9. Some 700 civil society actors participated in a range of capacity-building activities organized by the Office, including human rights non-governmental organizations, youth and student leaders, women human rights defenders, media and academic institutions. Issues covered included human rights law and protection mechanisms, human rights and the media, documentation, discrimination, and the rights of internally displaced persons and indigenous peoples. OHCHR also facilitated the establishment of working groups on human rights indicators and common vocabularies to improve reporting. 10. OHCHR continued its training and awareness-raising activities with the Nepal Police and Armed Police Force. Substantive advice was provided for the drafting of Nepal Police human rights standing orders, 58,000 copies of which were officially handed to police officials in January 2008. Training on human rights issues directly concerning police work and on protection mechanisms was provided to 35 Nepal Police trainers, as were specialized sessions for around 100 police officials. Five regional training sessions for some 150 Armed Police Force