A/HRC/34/74 of Baja California, Coahuila, Jalisco, Oaxaca and Tamaulipas. In Kenya, the Parliament adopted a national policy and plan of action on human rights, which had been developed through a highly participatory process. Regarding actions relevant to specific recommendations, in the key area of gender equality and women’s rights, in Guinea-Bissau, the National Assembly approved a declaration that outlined a number of gender mainstreaming actions, including one establishing a minimum quota of 40 per cent for women at all levels of the decision-making process. In Tunisia, the OHCHR country office, in cooperation with other relevant United Nations partners, supported a number of national legislative efforts as follow-up to recommendations made by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women; this included support for the adoption of organic law No. 2016-61 on preventing and combating human anti-trafficking, the preparation of the comprehensive organic draft law on violence against women and the amendment by the Government of the law on passports, ending a discriminatory practice that prevented women from leaving the country with an underage child without the authorization of the child’s father. In Mauritania, the Parliament adopted a law on the establishment of a national preventive mechanism under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture. Other countries have witnessed increased ratification of international human rights treaties. For example, following the visit by the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances in 2015, Sri Lanka ratified the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance in May 2016. The OHCHR presence on the ground assisted through technical cooperation in this endeavour.2 39. During its field visits and its discussions with relevant authorities and partners, the Board witnessed testimony on the importance of OHCHR support for ensuring that national policies comply fully with international human rights standards and that national efforts are aimed at the implementation of recommendations made by international human rights mechanisms. The offices operated by OHCHR have the expertise necessary to assess the effectiveness of government efforts; for example, during the Board’s visit to Guatemala, in October 2013, it visited Rabinal and met with indigenous groups to discuss economic development programmes in the area. It heard indigenous concerns that consultation with them had been inadequate and the subsequent developments lacked their full, free and informed consent. The OHCHR country office has been able to provide advice to both State institutions and indigenous groups on the requirement for full, free and informed consent and the meaning of effective consultation. During discussions in Saltillo, Mexico, in February 2014, government officials and representatives of civil society organizations informed the Board on efforts to address disappearances and extra-judicial executions. The OHCHR country office has been able to provide advice to both government and civil society on these issues. 40. The reports and recommendations of international human rights mechanisms should be part of the basis for the development of a common country assessment and subsequently a Development Assistance Framework. The assessments can benefit from the analysis by the mechanisms of the most significant human rights issues in the country concerned, while the Development Assistance Framework can include programmes and initiatives to allow implementation of the recommendations made by the mechanisms. While these tasks are the responsibility of the United Nations country team as a whole, the specific expertise and experience of OHCHR, drawn from the work of its field presences in so many countries and regions, is critical to the process. The technical cooperation offered by OHCHR will 2 12 For further information on the results achieved around the world thanks to the technical support offered by the Office, see the OHCHR annual report for 2016.