A/HRC/32/20 council with members selected at random and working mainly online, complemented by meetings.44 52. Municipal-level consultations can be facilitated by materials produced centrally and adapted for local use, together with assistance to local councils on working with civil society, including the media, and technical support to create local websites. Children’s councils at the municipal level help children to participate in decision-making on issues that affect them and develop their understanding of political processes.45 53. As for other United Nations mechanisms, the work of human rights treaty bodies as well as of special procedures mandate holders is inconceivable without civil society input, which adds to the relevance and credibility of the conclusions and recommendations resulting from the experts’ deliberations. Some States have taken the positive step of consulting with civil society in drafting their reports to the mechanisms, in addition to encouraging independent civil society submissions. 54. The universal periodic review, which requires consultation in the preparation of State reports and encourages broad-based input from civil society, has generally proved helpful in fostering dialogue between State institutions and diverse civil society sectors. Maintaining this dialogue is all the more valuable for the implementation of recommendations and to monitor progress. 55. In many countries, OHCHR field presences host or facilitate a wide range of partnerships as well as multi-stakeholder initiatives. They include a national platform for dialogue on business and human rights in Malawi and a thematic-based task force in Uruguay involving Government and civil society for follow-up to the universal periodic review and other human rights-related recommendations. 56. OHCHR and other United Nations entities working at the country and regional levels play a convening role, providing a safe and neutral environment for civil society actors to discuss and support endeavours to create networks with common interests 46 and facilitate dialogue between government officials and civil society actors. For example, recognizing civil society’s crucial role in securing progress on the Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) helped to create space at the global, regional and country levels to dialogue with government counterparts on how to improve policy and legal environments to stem HIV epidemics. 47 57. Despite the many opportunities for civil society in United Nations forums, the different mechanisms, modalities and requirements may seem confusing or alienating to smaller organizations or online networks. In particular, the requirement to obtain consultative status with the Economic and Social Council to participate in most intergovernmental meetings, including the Human Rights Council, is seen as a barrier to participation in the work of the United Nations. Moreover, the deferral of a large number of NGO applications for consultative status, sometimes for years48 and reportedly for arbitrary reasons, has deprived international debate of important civil society contributions.49 44 45 46 47 48 49 12 Human Rights Centre, Finland. Save the Children. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); UN-Women. UNDP. International Dalit Solidarity Network. These and other challenges were the subject of a consultation convened by the Office of the DirectorGeneral of the United Nations Office at Geneva. See “The United Nations and civil society - 70 years working together: how do we make a difference from Geneva?”, summary report, June 2015.