A/HRC/23/27 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 2 April 2013 Original: English Human Rights Council Twenty-third session Agenda items 2 and 8 Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General Follow-up to and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action National institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights Report of the Secretary-General* ** Summary The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 20/14, in which the Council requested the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of that resolution. The report, which covers the period from April 2012 to March 2013, contains information on the activities undertaken by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to establish and strengthen national human rights institutions, cooperation between those institutions and the international human rights system, and the support provided by OHCHR to the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and relevant regional networks. The report should be read in conjunction with the report of the Secretary-General on the activities of the International Coordinating Committee in accrediting national institutions in compliance with the Paris Principles (A/HRC/23/28). Specifically, the report highlights the main achievements, challenges and priorities at the national level regarding the establishment and strengthening of national human rights institutions. It also refers to their activities on thematic issues, such as business and human rights, discrimination, and human rights defenders and the international human rights system. * All references to Kosovo in the present report, whether to the territory, institutions or population, are to be construed in the context of Security Council resolution 1244 (1999) and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo. ** The annexes to the present report are circulated as received, in the language of submission only. GE.13-12630