A/HRC/30/49 I. Introduction 1. In August 2012, the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee submitted a research proposal on local government and human rights (A/HRC/AC/9/6) to the Council for its consideration and approval. 2. On 26 September 2013, the Council adopted resolution 24/2, in which it took note of the above-mentioned research proposal and requested the Advisory Committee to prepare a research-based report on the role of local government in the promotion and protection of human rights, including human rights mainstreaming in local administration and public services, with a view to compiling best practices and main challenges, and to present a progress report thereon to the Council at its twenty-seventh session. 3. The Advisory Committee was also requested to seek the views and inputs of Member States, relevant international and regional organizations, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and relevant special procedures, as well as national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), in order to prepare the above-mentioned report. 4. At its twelfth session, in February 2014, the Advisory Committee established a drafting group tasked with the preparation of the said report and designated the following members of the Committee as members of the drafting group: Mario Luis Coriolano, Hoda Elsadda, Latif Hüseynov (Rapporteur), Anantonia Reyes Prado, Dheerujlall Seetulsingh (Chair), and Imeru Tamrat Yigezu. Subsequently, Katharina Pabel joined the drafting group and replaced Mr. Seetulsingh as Chair, while Ms. Elsadda replaced Mr. Hüseynov as Rapporteur. Changrok Soh and Laura-Maria Crăciunean also subsequently joined the drafting group. 5. The drafting group elaborated a questionnaire, in accordance with Council resolution 24/2, which was disseminated to different stakeholders. To date, a total of 67 responses have been received: 22 from States, 20 from national human rights institutions, 10 from NGOs, 12 from local authorities and 3 from international or regional organizations. 6. In line with Human Rights Council resolution 24/2, a progress report was submitted to the twenty-seventh session of the Council with the recommendation that the Council request the Advisory Committee to submit a final report at its thirtieth session. At its twenty-seventh session, the Council adopted resolution 27/4, which took note with appreciation of the Advisory Committee’s progress report, and requested the Committee to continue its research and to submit a final report on the role of local government in the promotion and protection of human rights to the Human Rights Council at its thirtieth session. 7. The Council also requested the Committee, when elaborating the final report, to include therein the main challenges faced by local governments in the promotion and protection of human rights, and to make recommendations on tackling those challenges based on best practices in human rights mainstreaming in local administration and public services. II. Definition of local government 8. Local government is commonly defined as the lowest tier of public administration within a given State. In unitary States, local government usually comprises the second or third tier of government, whereas in federal States, it is constituted as the third or sometimes fourth tier of government. Local government aims at bringing government to the 3