A/HRC/18/24 27. NHRIs also reported that they have an important obligation in fostering cooperation with various stakeholders, including civil society organizations, through joint inquiries, projects grants and awareness-raising activities such as trainings, seminars and workshops. IV. Non-governmental organizations 28. Civil society organizations stated that they played an active role in advocating for legal reforms in line with human rights obligations and the commitments of a State. Governments were increasingly recognizing the distinctive role of NGOs in reviewing national legislation, regulations, policy documents, procedures and the conduct of law enforcement agencies. 29. Indeed, States considered civil society organizations as essential partners and looked for further possible engagement. In some countries, legal training organized by ministries or government agencies has been taking place in cooperation with the NGO community, including legal reforms and amendments. 30. In some places, special offices and units were established to provide NGOs with support and to assist in addressing their concerns and challenges. In order to ensure transparency in government conduct, some ministries had also created a system of frequent briefings on current updates and developments for representatives of NGOs. 31. Some States reported that they organized annual NGO forums on human rights. Prominent NGOs were recognized and granted membership in advisory and consultative bodies of different ministries and agencies. Furthermore, States reported that NGOs were directly involved and engaged in legislative drafting processes. 32. NGOs also reported that they played a key role in ensuring the effective implementation of legislation and programmes through ongoing monitoring and reporting. 33. Human rights training and awareness-raising were the main tools used by NGOs for the promotion and protection of human rights. Many human rights campaigns were organized either individually or jointly by civil society. NGOs reported a range of different methods used to foster a human rights culture, depending on context. V. Key findings A. The concept of prevention 34. Through the questionnaire, participants were asked about the steps they had taken to prevent human rights violations and to ensure the respect for human rights. They were asked to identify legislative frameworks, polices, programmes and administrative measures that expressly and specifically prevent human rights violations. The responses to this question were widely varied and included measures such as constitutional protections, the creation of an NHRI, the existence of Ministries of Justice or similar, court systems, and laws against the violation of human rights. Participants indicated that, while the responses to the question were all positive and welcome steps towards tackling human rights violations and impunity, both the range and the lack of detail provided may suggest that the concept of “prevention” in the context of human rights violations needs to be further developed. 35. In response to the question on what policies and programmes had been put into place to prevent human rights violations, States offered a wide range of initiatives as evidence of their work on prevention. This included creating national human rights action plans, action 9