A/HRC/18/24 I. Introduction A. Background 1. At its fourteenth session, the Human Rights Council adopted resolution 14/5 on the role of prevention in the promotion and protection of human rights. In the resolution, the Council expressed concern about continued human rights violations around the world and reaffirmed the obligation of States under the Charter of the United Nations to promote universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms. 2. The Human Rights Council stressed the importance of effective preventive measures as part of the overall strategies for the promotion and protection of human rights, as well as the need for States to promote supportive and enabling environments for the prevention of human rights violations. It further recognized that States have a primary responsibility for the promotion and protection of human rights, including the prevention of human rights violations, and that this responsibility involves all branches of the State. In addition, the Council encouraged States to strengthen the mandate and capacity of national human rights institutions (NHRIs), where they exist, to enable them to fulfil their preventive role in accordance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (Paris Principles). 3. The Human Rights Council requested the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to consult States, NHRIs, civil society and other relevant stakeholders, using a questionnaire format, on the conceptual and practical dimensions of prevention with regard to the promotion and protection of human rights, and to compile and publish the responses. Building on that research, the Council further requested that OHCHR convene a workshop, based on the information gathered from the questionnaire, to further explore the role of prevention in the promotion and protection of human rights, and to present a summary of the workshop proceedings to the Council. The present report contains the summary of the responses to the questionnaire as well as of the workshop. B. Questionnaire 4. The questionnaire was circulated to States, NHRIs and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to capture data and to take stock of preventive mechanisms put in place through policies, programmes and projects on the prevention of human rights violations. The responses provided the basis for taking forward the workshop and other future initiatives related to prevention, including those influencing the work of United Nations human rights bodies, in order to promote and protect human rights, both individually and collectively. The questionnaire is included in full in annex III to the present document. OHCHR received responses from 24 Governments, 21 NHRIs and 8 NGOs, for a total of 53 responses (see annex I); 9 were received from Africa, 7 from the Americas, 10 from Asia and the Pacific and 26 from Europe (see annex II). 5. The questionnaire was used to evaluate, among other things, the legal framework of States, functional capacity needs, core promotion and protection activities, priority thematic areas addressing the Millennium Development Goals from a human rights perspective, the rule of law and democracy, statistics and data collection, participation rates in the international human rights system, and interaction with NGOs. The questionnaire also included a number of qualitative questions which required respondents to provide in-depth 4