A/HRC/39/58 response to a complaint. Although NGOs are striving to improve human rights conditions in Asia, that is proving to be difficult because the Commission has largely excluded civil society organizations from participation in its initiatives.35 V. Role of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the advancement of regional and subregional human rights arrangements 27. Mandated by Human Rights Council resolutions, OHCHR has consistently organized workshops aimed at enhancing cooperation between the United Nations and regional human rights mechanisms, including information-sharing on best practices and lessons learned and discussions on possible new forms of cooperation. A key success story, for example, is the Addis Ababa road map adopted by the special procedures of the United Nations and the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights. 36 International workshops on regional arrangements, preceded by consultations, were held in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016. Furthermore, OHCHR has a dedicated section, the National Institutions, Regional Mechanisms and Civil Society Section, which is responsible for supporting regional mechanisms. Although a key achievement has been the creation of a network of 17 focal points for cooperation between regional mechanisms, which hold annual meetings and coordinate the biannual workshops, this activity is coordinated by a single person in the Section. 28. OHCHR supports the establishment and operation of national and regional human rights organizations through capacity-building, such as training and technical assistance, and facilitating information flows. The technical assistance programme integrates support for national institutions with other forms of United Nations assistance, but more needs to be done for effective capacity-building. In its response to the survey, the Government of Kenya noted that it had faced a challenge with regard to training on various human rights issues. It stated that more support was required for human rights awareness campaigns, especially in regard to the abolition of the death penalty and the training of government officers on a human rights-based approach to programming and planning, in order to build their capacity to provide service delivery in a meaningful way. In its response, the National Council for Human Rights of Egypt also noted that OHCHR could play an important role by conducting training for the staff of the institutions concerned, helping to develop information and documentation systems, and facilitating exchange of experience with relevant institutions, especially those belonging to the international system of human rights protection. OHCHR could also help to establish regional offices and human rights centres that would provide an additional structure promoting the concept of regional protection of human rights. 29. OHCHR also assists with the diffusion of international human rights standards to regional arrangements. In the case of the League of Arab States, OHCHR provided assistance in revising the 1994 version of the Arab Charter on Human Rights to improve its compliance with international human rights standards. 37 OHCHR has encouraged the security architecture of the African Union to adopt a human rights approach and supported the 2017 African Union high-level dialogue on human rights, as well as planning for the 10-year action and implementation plan for the promotion and protection of human rights. In the Americas, OHCHR supported the Inter-American Commission during its 2013 reform process and helped to raise public awareness during its budgetary crisis in 2016. In 2017 in the Middle East, valuable training on United Nations human rights mechanisms was provided to the OIC Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission. Of course, there are still challenges. It has been pointed out that OHCHR may consider facilitating staff exchange and peer advice for regional mechanisms, provide regular training and 35 36 37 See https://humanrightsinasean.info/asean-intergovernmental-comission-human-rights/about.html. See www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/SP/SP_UNHRC_ACHPRRoad%20Map.pdf. Mervat Rishmawi, The League of Arab States Human Rights Standards and Mechanisms: Towards Further Civil Society Management: a Manual for Practitioners (2015). 11