A/HRC/40/19 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 14 December 2018 Original: English Human Rights Council Fortieth session 25 February–22 March 2019 Agenda item 2 Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General Measures taken to implement Human Rights Council resolution 9/8 and obstacles to its implementation, including recommendations for further improving the effectiveness of, harmonizing and reforming the treaty body system Report of the Secretary-General 1. In its resolution 9/8, the Human Rights Council requested the Secretary-General to report annually to the Council on measures taken to implement the resolution and on obstacles to its implementation, including recommendations for further improving the effectiveness of, harmonizing and reforming the treaty body system. The present report is submitted pursuant to that request. 2. In its resolution 68/268, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to submit to the Assembly, on a biennial basis, a comprehensive report on the status of the human rights treaty body system and the progress achieved by the human rights treaty bodies in realizing greater efficiency and effectiveness in their work, including the number of reports submitted and reviewed by the committees, the visits undertaken and the individual communications received and reviewed, where applicable, the state of the backlog, capacity-building efforts and results achieved, as well as information on the situation in terms of ratifications, increased reporting and the allocation of meeting time and proposals on measures, including on the basis of information and observations from Member States, to enhance the engagement of all States parties in the dialogue with the treaty bodies. The report of the Secretary-General on the status of the human rights treaty body system was submitted to the Assembly at its seventy-third session (A/73/309).1 A note verbale soliciting information and observations from Member States was dispatched on 4 December 2017 and posted on the website of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The responses that were received are posted on the same website.2 1 2 The supplementary information (annexes) discussed in the report of the Secretary-General is available at www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRTD/Pages/2ndBiennialReportbySG.aspx. See www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRTD/Pages/2ndBiennialReportbySG.aspx. GE.18-21914(E) 