A/HRC/20/9 43. In 2011, OHCHR organized training for the staff of the Ombudsman Office in Tajikistan on techniques of interviewing human rights victims, with an emphasis on survivors of torture. 44. In 2011, OHCHR advocated for the adoption of a new law on the Ombudsman in Kazakhstan to encourage greater compliance with the Paris Principles. In September 2011, OHCHR supported the participation of the Ombudsman institution in the Sixteenth Annual Meeting and Biennial Conference of the APF. The OHCHR Regional Office for Central Asia, in cooperation with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Centre in Astana and the Ombudsman institution organized a conference on “National preventive mechanisms: establishment and implementation issues”. 45. OHCHR provided comments on the rules of procedure of the National Assembly of Serbia, focusing on provisions regulating the relationship between the Ombudsman and the Parliament, specifically on the oversight mechanism and the Ombudsman’s reporting function. OHCHR and the United Nations country team continued to work closely with the Serbian National Assembly in order to further strengthen that institution. 46. Following the visit of Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights to Ireland, OHCHR sent a technical note in December 2011, to provide advice on the merging of the Irish Human Rights Commission with the Irish Equality Body. 47. In Lithuania, upon request from the Minister of Justice and the Seimas Ombudsman, OHCHR provided comments on the legislation of the Seimas Ombudsman regarding its compliance with the Paris Principles. 48. On 4 and 5 October 2011, a workshop on a “Broad Participatory Approach towards the establishment of a NHRI in Turkey” was organized by OHCHR, the United Nations country team in Turkey and the UNDP Bratislava Centre, to raise awareness among Turkish authorities of the importance of ensuring a broad and open participation during the pre-establishment phase of NHRIs. The development of a draft law, in accordance with the Paris Principles, is being considered in Turkey. B. 1. Support of OHCHR for regional initiatives of NHRIs The Americas and the Caribbean 49. In November 2011, OHCHR supported the organization of the Tenth Annual meeting of the Americas Network of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, in Antigua, Guatemala. In the margins of the annual meeting, a regional workshop on business and human rights was held, in follow-up to the Edinburgh Declaration on Business and Human Rights adopted at the International Conference of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rightsin October 2010. 50. In October 2011, in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Plurinational State of Bolivia, OHCHR and the Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues in Latin America organized a regional workshop for NHRIs on the ILO Convention No. 169 (1989) concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 2. Africa 51. From 19 to 21 October 2011, OHCHR supported the South African Human Rights Commission in holding the Biennial Conference of the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions, in Cape Town. The event was attended by more than 100 of representatives of NHRIs from the African continent and focused on ways to engage with State and non-State actors on the promotion and protection of the human rights of older 9