A/HRC/34/23 I. Introduction 1. In its resolutions 6/20, 12/15, 18/14 and 24/19, the Human Rights Council recognized the important role played by regional, subregional and interregional arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights and requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to hold international workshops to put forward concrete proposals on ways of strengthening cooperation between the United Nations and regional human rights mechanisms. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) therefore organized four such workshops, held in November 2008 (see A/HRC/11/3), May 2010 (see A/HRC/15/56), December 2012 (see A/HRC/28/31) and October 2014 (see A/HRC/28/31). 2. In its resolution 30/3, the Human Rights Council again requested the High Commissioner to hold a workshop on regional arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights, including a thematic discussion on interactions with civil society and human rights defenders, based on concrete and practical experience of regional mechanisms, in order to share information on best practices, lessons learned and new possible forms of cooperation. The Council further requested the High Commissioner to present to the Council, at its thirty-fourth session, a report containing a summary of the discussions held at the workshop and on the progress towards the implementation of the resolution. 3. OHCHR therefore organized this workshop. It was held in Geneva on 4 and 5 October 2016.1 The aim of the workshop was to develop specific proposals for joint action by the United Nations, regional human rights mechanisms, civil society and human rights defenders. It focused on sharing information on best practices, lessons learned and new possible forms of cooperation. Participants included experts and representatives of the secretariats of United Nations human rights treaty bodies and special procedures, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States, the East African Court of Justice, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Council of Europe, the Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Arab Commission for Human Rights, other regional organizations, national human rights institutions and civil society organizations. The present report summarizes the discussions that took place at the workshop, including its conclusions and recommendations. 4. Before the workshop, OHCHR organized a total of four regional consultations in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe to discuss the key human rights challenges facing human rights defenders and civil society and to identify sub-themes for the 2016 workshop. Further, in follow-up to a recommendation of the 2014 workshop on regional arrangements, OHCHR, together with the European Court of Human Rights, organized a workshop for regional and subregional courts in October 2016 in Strasbourg. 2 1 2 2 Programme available from www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/NHRI/Pages/Cooperation.aspx. Detailed information available from www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/NHRI/Pages/Cooperation.aspx.