A/HRC/38/18 organizations. Quality access to online information, including in different languages, could also be limited owing to missing, outdated or irrelevant information, while timetables and agendas were either shared late or not at all. In that respect, suggestions were made for the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to publish all the merits of its decisions, while the United Nations treaty bodies could provide information well in advance on the individual complaints to be considered.36 39. Contributors considered the period between the time that special procedures communications were sent and their publication (up to six months after having been sent through the joint communications reports) too long for victims who were waiting to learn whether action had been taken.37 40. The Department of Economic and Social Affairs used social media to share contentappropriate information to engage its followers, using digital cards, infographics, tweets and hash-tagging. UN-Habitat was in the process of improving the way it shared feedback from partners on project implementation through updated internal communication systems, including the launch in 2018 of the partner information management system. F. Accountability mechanisms 41. To enforce participatory rights, there must be avenues to hold Governments and other duty bearers to account. That applied equally to the international and regional levels. As the Human Rights Council noted in paragraphs 7 and 14 (a) of its resolution 32/31, access to justice was a necessary element to enforce the rights of civil society and to challenge otherwise illegal practices of public authorities and private parties. The absence of justice and appeal mechanisms in regional and international institutions, which are meant to advocate and assist in the application of those very principles at the domestic level, was incompatible with the spirit of the Charter of the United Nations. In paragraph 42 of his above-mentioned report, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression stressed that intergovernmental organizations should ensure an independent appeals process, protected against political interference and with the competence to make binding decisions. Grounds for appeal should be broad and clear procedures should be in place, including timelines. 42. The Aarhus Convention provided for a compliance mechanism, the members of which were nominated by parties and NGOs and served in their private capacity. Any individual or group of individuals (including an NGO) could approach the Committee to allege a violation of the Convention. Other mechanisms had a more limited scope, such as the WHO procedure of oversight for relations with civil society organizations, and its annual report by the Programme Committee. UNESCO facilitated the International Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations to review its civic engagement. 43. In terms of due process, the lack of formal complaint mechanisms in regional and international organizations was noted. Also of concern were the lack of accountability for the outcomes of decision-making processes, the lack of mechanisms for adjudication and mediation, and the lack of information on mechanisms that might be available. 38 G. Protecting civil society from threats and reprisals 44. Member States had a duty to protect those individuals who worked on human rights issues from harm resulting from their work, pursuant to human rights norms and standards and, more specifically, article 2 of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. Most submissions stated that the greatest threat to the integrity and legitimacy of intergovernmental bodies was a lack of accountability for threats and reprisals aimed at individuals and civil society organizations who cooperated with such bodies on human rights issues, including the United Nations. Certain areas of engagement, for example, 36 37 38 12 International Justice Resource Centre. International Service for Human Rights, Civic Space Initiative. Action Canada for Sexual Health, Civic Space Initiative.