A/HRC/13/47 6. The key contributions of the work of the Special Rapporteur, undertaken by an independent expert, pro bono, include the following: (a) The work acts as a platform under the United Nations umbrella to consistently assess the human rights situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (two reports per year: one to the Human Rights Council and one to the General Assembly); (b) The work provides the only reporting process in the United Nations based upon critical analysis of the situation in the country as ascertained from a variety of sources of information; (c) The work informs the world community of the human rights situation in the country, mobilizing support for the promotion and protection of those rights; (d) The work enables States to have key information for policymaking choices in regard to the United Nations resolutions on the country in question; (e) The work accesses the field level, particularly the victims of negative circumstances. 7. Ultimately, the work of special procedures matters most in its capacity to serve as a voice for those who do not have one, exposing the truth in the face of grave human rights violations. B. Substance 8. It is clear from six years of observing the human rights situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea that the abuses against the general population for which the authorities should be responsible are both egregious and endemic.1 9. This is not to deny that there have been some constructive developments throughout the years in regard to the country’s development and engagement with the international community. First, as has been recognized consistently by the Special Rapporteur, the country is a party to four key human rights treaties (on civil and political rights, economic, social and cultural rights, women’s rights and child rights) and has engaged with the monitoring bodies under those treaties. Second, a number of United Nations agencies are present in the country to render assistance, and cooperation with the authorities on some fronts has been positive, for example with regard to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) work on child immunization. Third, at the end of 2009, the country sent representatives to Geneva to participate in the universal periodic review of its human rights record and expressed its willingness to cooperate with this new United Nations procedure. It remains to be seen to what extent the authorities will accept the numerous recommendations emerging from the review and how they will substantiate follow-up measures as a consequence of the review. Fourth, interestingly, in the 2009 reform of the 1 GE.10-10793 For recent literature on the general situation in the country, see: “White paper on human rights in North Korea 2009” (Seoul, Korea Institute for National Unification, 2009); “Situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea: report of the Secretary-General” (A/64/319); national report submitted by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (A/HRC/WG.6/6/PRK/1); summary prepared by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (A/HRC/WG.6/6/PRK/3); compilation prepared by OHCHR on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (A/HRC/WG.6/6/PRK/2); draft report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (A/HRC/WG.6/6/L.12); Kim Kwang Jin, “After Kim Jong II: can we hope for better human rights protection?”, Occasional Paper of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (Washington D.C., 2009). 5