A/HRC/41/28 teams in the universal periodic review process. Concrete examples of national mechanisms for reporting and follow-up were most useful to participants, as was a reflection on the role of regional organizations such as the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Independent Permanent Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. 25. Overall, the discussions in the workshop highlighted the need for strong national reporting and follow-up mechanisms, including the use of the universal human rights index; 1 clustering of recommendations from human rights mechanisms according to the Sustainable Development Goals and their targets, feeding into national human rights action plans or sectoral road maps; and national databases to track implementation and facilitate reporting and follow-up. The role of national human rights institutions and civil society in the universal periodic review process was appreciated and encouraged. 26. The second subregional workshop was specifically aimed at French-speaking countries, jointly organized by OHCHR and the International Organization of la Francophonie and held in Dakar, Senegal on 25 and 26 July 2018. More than 150 participants attended from over 30 countries in 4 continents (Africa, America, Asia and Europe), including high-level representatives of African French-speaking countries, United Nations regional human rights mechanisms, IPU, the association of francophone parliamentarians, national human rights institutions and civil society organizations. Canada expressed great appreciation for the holding of the workshop on behalf of the International Organization of la Francophonie during the general debate under item 6 at the thirty-ninth session of the Human Rights Council. 27. The second workshop was designed to facilitate the sharing of best practices and lessons learned in relation to the implementation of and follow-up to the recommendations of international and regional human rights mechanisms. It also had a focus on concrete proposals to reinforce and consolidate the universal periodic review mechanism and improve the implementation of recommendations from the universal periodic review. For example, participants shared their experiences and good practices with regard to the implementation and assessment of recommendations from the universal periodic review, and with respect to the role of parliamentarians, national human rights institutions and civil society organizations. The need for synergy between efforts to implement the Sustainable Development Goals and recommendations from human rights mechanisms was stressed, as was the need to harmonize approaches to human rights and development. 28. Recommendations from the second workshop included: setting up or strengthening national mechanisms for reporting and follow-up for the implementation of recommendations from the universal periodic review; using databases, such as national tracking databases, to coordinate efforts and ensure consistency in the follow-up process; encouraging greater participation of parliaments, together with other stakeholders, in all phases of the universal periodic review process; and making better use of the general debate under item 6 in the regular sessions of the Human Rights Council in order to share good practices to facilitate implementation beyond the submission of midterm reports, a process that requires the collection of data for the subsequent preparation of a more comprehensive national report. 29. Since May 2017, OHCHR has been organizing informal briefings during the sessions of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review for members of delegations participating in the review, especially those who have travelled from their capitals. The briefings, which are held in the first and second week of the sessions, have provided visiting delegations with an overview of follow-up processes and measures for the implementation of recommendations made by human rights mechanisms, in particular the universal periodic review, in light of existing good practices. The briefings have been received positively by Member States and will continue to be systematically offered to delegations during sessions of the Working Group in the third universal periodic review cycle. 1 See https://uhri.ohchr.org/. 7