A/HRC/25/22 civil society, national human rights institutions (NHRIs) and United Nations entities each year; over 1,000 observers attended treaty body public meetings in 2013. 55. Treaty bodies with a complaint procedure examined 116 communications in 2013. The Committee against Torture, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the Human Rights Committee issued 53 requests for interim measures of protection for alleged victims at risk of irreparable harm. The treaty bodies also followed up on over 100 decisions in which violations of international human rights treaties had been found. Between 1 January and 11 December 2013, the treaty bodies received and registered 130 new individual complaints. As at 1 December 2013, a total of 530 individual communications were pending review. The Human Rights Committee held a retreat in April 2013 to reflect on key challenges related to communications. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopted a methodology for follow-up to its views, while the Committee on Enforced Disappearance issued nine requests for urgent action under article 30 of the Convention, registered its first communication and appointed a Special Rapporteur on New Communications and Interim Measures. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights registered its first communication under the Optional Protocol to the Covenant and established a Working Group to address new communications and requests for interim measures. 56. OHCHR continued its advocacy for the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Burkina Faso, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Mali, Mexico, Moldova, Paraguay, Peru, Senegal, Togo and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. These efforts contributed to the entry into force of this instrument which allowed the Committee to receive and consider complaints from individuals and States and to undertake inquiries as from May 2013 — a historical step reaffirming the justiciability of economic, social and cultural rights and providing increased protection to individuals. The individual complaint procedures of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families are yet to enter into force. 57. The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture carried out six missions in 2013, including three regular visits to New Zealand, Peru and Gabon, two advisory visits to Germany and Armenia, and one follow-up visit to Cambodia. 58. Several treaty bodies adopted general comments or general recommendations in 2013. These are authoritative statements that provide States parties with detailed and expert clarification of treaty provisions with a view to enhancing their understanding of treaty provisions and assisting them in implementing their treaty obligations. 59. The Committee on the Rights of the Child adopted four general comments on: the right of the child to have his or her best interests taken as a primary consideration (No. 14); the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health (No. 15); State obligations regarding the impact of the business sector on children’s rights (No. 16); and the right of the child to rest, leisure, play, recreational activities, cultural life and the arts (No. 17). 60. The Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families adopted a general comment on the rights of migrant workers in an irregular situation and members of their families (No. 2). The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women adopted general recommendations on the economic consequences of marriage, family relations and their dissolution (No. 29) and on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations (No. 30), the latter coinciding with a Security Council debate on women, peace and security on 18 October 12