A/HRC/31/81 I. Introduction 1. In its resolution 28/2 on enhancement of international cooperation in the field of human rights, the Human Rights Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare, in consultation with States, a report on the ways and means, as well as obstacles and challenges and proposals to overcome them, for the enhancement of international cooperation in the United Nations human rights machinery, including the Council, taking into account the discussion conducted by the high-level panel on human rights mainstreaming held during twenty-eighth session of the Council with the theme of “Enhancement of international cooperation in the field of human rights”, and submit the report to the Council. In order to give effect to that mandate, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights solicited views from all States. Contributions were received from Bahrain, the Russian Federation and the Syrian Arab Republic.1 2. The present report describes previous initiatives on the topic of international cooperation in the field of human rights (sect. II);2 provides a summary of State submissions (sect. III); and summarizes points raised during the panel discussion held during the twenty-eighth session (sect. IV). Section V contains conclusions and recommendations. II. International cooperation in the field of human rights: substantive, procedural and institutional dimensions 3. Over the past few years, the Council, in a number of resolutions, has referred to international cooperation in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.3 In its study on the enhancement of international cooperation in the field of human rights, the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee noted the wide variety of meanings that the very concept of international cooperation may have (see A/HRC/19/74, para. 26). Surveying the main instruments on international cooperation in the field of human rights, such as the Charter of the United Nations, international human rights treaties, the Vienna Declaration and the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, the Advisory Committee acknowledged that the concept involved a wide range of actors, fields and registers (ibid., para. 26). 4. According to the Advisory Committee, international cooperation cannot be reduced to a mere juxtaposition of national interests or the logic of power relations, but is based on three assumptions: firstly, international cooperation premised on a genuine partnership and shared undertaking; secondly, while cooperation entails participation in a process, it is not an end in itself but a means to an end; and, thirdly, cooperation conveys some sense of a “shared ideal” (see A/HRC/19/74, paras. 35-37). In the latter sense, as noted in the report, cooperation is not just a matter of relations of good neighbourliness, coexistence or reciprocity, but rather of a willingness to look beyond mutual interests in order to advance the general interest (see A/HRC/19/74, para. 37). 5. In relation to substantive matters (such as development, social, humanitarian, security and cultural cooperation), the Advisory Committee, in its report, underlined that human rights were to be integrated into collaborative efforts of States in various areas (see 1 2 3 2 The full texts of the replies are on file with the Secretariat and are available for consultation. For more information on this topic, see A/HRC/19/74, A/HRC/26/41; see also A/HRC/23/20. Ibid.