A/HRC/41/45 part of AIDS programmes were allegedly shared with government officials who were empowered to enforce laws criminalizing homosexuality. 39 24. Civil society organizations often carry out their own monitoring and reporting: 40 the mandate holder received extensive information on civil society efforts in contexts as diverse as Bolivia (Plurinational State of),41 Brazil,42 Cameroon,43 Honduras,44 Indonesia, 45 North Macedonia,46 Pakistan,47 Serbia48 and Ukraine,49 and in the Caribbean.50 On the basis of this information and his own research, the Independent Expert observes that in multiple contexts it would appear that civil society organizations are attempting to fill the voids left by State inaction, including in areas fundamental to furthering the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. This work has been and will continue to be of exceptional value. Civil society organizations may in some cases be better placed to collect data related to sexual orientation and gender identity, as victims may not feel safe reporting to States whose agents may have perpetrated violations, are legally required to prosecute them, or will refuse to act to protect them. 25. The determination of civil society to fill gaps in order to further the protection of human rights does not relieve the State of its duty to obtain accurate information on the peoples, populations and communities under its jurisdiction, and to create environments conducive to obtaining and appropriately managing that information. In addition, the mandate holder is deeply concerned that reliance by States on civil society is not accompanied by the setting of proper conditions for its work, as there can be obstacles to legal registration of civil society organizations, 51 or a lack of proper financial support allowing civil society to ensure the sustainability of its efforts. 26. The challenges to proper data collection must be identified and addressed. For example, there are no universally accepted standards determining the classification of sexual orientation and gender identity. In many contexts, sexual orientation manifests itself in ways that do not necessarily fit the terms “lesbian”, “gay” or “bisexual”, and gender diversity goes beyond neat differentiations between “cis” and “trans” persons. Identities, behaviours, desires and expressions, and the terms used to describe them, vary from culture to culture and are based on language, history, religion, economic class, age, ethnicity and other cultural influences. Not taking into account the unique manner in which communities, populations and peoples define themselves, through concepts and terminology that are culturally appropriate and inclusive, 52 not only reflects the population inaccurately, 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 Joint communication (OL IDN 2/2019) dated 13 February 2019 from three special procedure mandate holders. Available at https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublic CommunicationFile?gId=24329. See, for example, Chapter Four Uganda, My Child is Different. Available from http://chapterfouruganda.com/sites/default/files/downloads/My-Child-Is-Different.pdf. See also submissions from the Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women and others; Youth Voices Count (Asia-Pacific regional network). Submission from Organización IGUAL. Submission from TODXS Núcleo. In the absence of government data, monitoring by non-State actors revealed a high level of violence and human rights violations against lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender-diverse persons, with 1,134 cases recorded in 2018 (submission from Alternatives Cameroun and others). Submission from an individual in Honduras. Submission from Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women and others. Submission from the LGBTI Support Centre. Submissions from the Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women and others; Youth Voices Count (Asia-Pacific regional network). Submission from Da se zna!. The Nash Mir Center documented 358 acts of violence, discrimination and hate and other violations against lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex persons in 2018 (Overcoming Obstacles: LGBT situation in Ukraine in 2018, available at https://gay.org.ua/en/blog/2019/02/05/overcomingobstacles-lgbt-situation-in-ukraine-in-2018/). Only two cases of hate crime based on sexual orientation were registered by the National Police in 2018 (submission from Ukraine). Submission from the Right Here Right Now consortium. Ibid. Submission from the Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women and others. 9