A/HRC/40/29 59. An increasing number of national human rights institutions has become actively engaged in the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals. In the 2015 Mérida Declaration on the role of national human rights institutions in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted at the twelfth International Conference of the Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, national human rights institutions committed to collaborate in mutual capacity-building and sharing of experiences to contribute to a human rights-based approach to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. 60. A number of national human rights institutions have been actively developing synergies between human rights monitoring and the national implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. For example, in Argentina, the Ombudsman is playing a unique role in bridging human rights protection and effective implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, in collaboration with civil society, universities, companies and government agencies. As of July 2017, the Ombudsman’s office has initiated 57 investigations explicitly linked to the Sustainable Development Goals. It has mapped overlapping issues between the recommendations made during the universal periodic review and the Sustainable Development Goals to strengthen synergies in addressing them. Similar mapping exercises have been conducted by a number of other national human rights institutions.32 H. Role of civic space 61. The 2030 Agenda is “an Agenda of the people, by the people and for the people” (para. 52), and civil society plays a critical role in upholding all three pillars of the Charter of the United Nations: peace and security; development; and human rights. However, in order for civil society to be able to contribute meaningfully to implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, it is essential to have an enabling environment in which it can operate freely. A number of national human rights institutions have raised concerns over an increasing trend worldwide for Governments to introduce restrictive laws and policies that have contributed to shrinking civil society space. This has, in turn, hampered more systematic engagement of civil society and national human rights institutions in all stages of the implementation and monitoring processes for the Sustainable Development Goals.33 62. Sustainable development can only succeed when there are open and free public debates about activities to implement, monitor and follow up on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals that includes all relevant stakeholders – Governments, the private sector, national human rights institutions and broader civil society – in order to identify appropriate solutions for achieving the Goals at the national and local levels. This requires effective measures to protect and monitor civic space and to ensure accountable, participatory and transparent governance at all levels, which form part of the commitment under Goal 16. IV. Conclusions and recommendations 63. Empowering people and ensuring equality and inclusiveness are at the core of a human rights-based approach to sustainable development. The normative framework of economic, social and cultural rights and other related human rights offer guidance for States and other stakeholders in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals in a more effective and inclusive manner. 32 33 See Nadja Filskov, National Human Rights Institutions Engaging with the Sustainable Development Goals (Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, 2017). See Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, “Protecting and enlarging the space for public debates and participation of all civil society actors for the implementation of the SDGs and human rights”, background paper, 2016. 15