A/HRC/23/27 34. The OHCHR regional office for Central America supported the national human rights institutions of Costa Rica El Salvador and Nicaragua in finalizing and publishing two protocols and two training modules on racial discrimination. OHCHR also carried out a training session for 40 human rights officers on identifying and handling cases of discrimination. It also supported the national human rights institution of Panama on the establishment of an internal mechanism to monitor the situation of human rights of indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants. 35. OHCHR supported the institutional development of the national human rights institution in Uruguay, including the elaboration of its rules of procedure. A workshop on the Paris Principles was held in November 2012. 36. In Colombia, OHCHR supported the Office of the Ombudsman (Defensoria del Pueblo) in monitoring the situation of human rights in the country, particularly with regard to cases of gross human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law. The Office established joint committees with OHCHR and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in regions where human rights were most affected, to impel effective government response. 37. OHCHR provided support to the national human rights institution in Guatemala to develop its strategic plan for the period 2012-2017 and conducted an evaluation of its regional offices, making capacity-building recommendations, and began working with the institution on a methodology to report on social conflicts. Other joint activities included a mass media campaign on the rights of persons with disabilities, training on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, discussions with representatives of the penitentiary system to promote the rights of persons deprived of their liberty, activities on human rights defenders, and human rights education and technical assistance with regard to an amicus curiae. 38. In 2012, OHCHR, in close cooperation with UNDP and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, in the framework of the United Nations joint “Peace Window” programme, supported the consolidation of the Conflicts Unit in the National Office of the Ombudsman of Bolivia (Plurinational State of), including the development of a system to monitor conflicts in the country, technical advice on cases of violation of human rights and the formulation on a national plan of action on racism and discrimination. 39. The OHCHR Human Rights Adviser in Ecuador provided assistance for the establishment of a virtual platform on the webpage of the national human rights institution to host human rights training courses and the development of introductory and mandatory training on human rights for all staff members of the institution. A training module on the collective rights of indigenous, Afro-Ecuadorian and Montbios peoples was also developed. 40. Since July 2011, OHCHR and the International Organization of la Francophonie have supported the Citizens’ Protection Office of Haiti. Subsequent to advice provided through a consultant in cooperation with MINUSTAH, the law revising the status of the Office was adopted by Parliament in August 2012. The Office has applied for accreditation by the International Coordinating Committee and is scheduled to be reviewed in May 2013. MINUSTAH contributed to the strengthening of the Office’s infrastructure by providing expertise on management, institution-building and staff recruitment, as well as on planning and monitoring. As a result, the number of regional branches of the Citizens’ Protection Office has increased from five to nine. During the period under review, the Office and MINUSTAH undertook joint advocacy initiatives to address human rights violations committed by law enforcement personnel in detention facilities. 7