UN HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE FIELD during its 40th and 42nd sessions (March and September 2019 respectively), and to prepare a comprehensive written report to be followed by an interactive dialogue, during its 41st session in June 2019. Following meetings between the High Commissioner and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a renewed dialogue was established. On 26 November 2018, the Venezuelan Government invited the High Commissioner to conduct an official visit to the country. Since April, OHCHR’s work on Nicaragua has focused on monitoring and reporting on the human rights situation with a view to preventing human rights violations and abuses. At the invitation of the Government, OHCHR deployed a team to Managua, from June to August, to support the mandate of the Verification and Security Commission. At the end of August, OHCHR published a report entitled Human Rights violations and abuses in the context of protests in Nicaragua: 18 April-18 August 2018. One day after its publication, the Government withdrew its invitation to OHCHR and requested the team to leave the country. Since September, a team monitored and reported on the human rights situation in Nicaragua from the Regional Office for Central America, including through the publication of monthly bulletins. The region experienced significant shortcomings in the realization of economic, social and cultural rights, resulting in deepened inequalities. Decreasing economic growth and austerity measures exacerbated this situation, causing social protests that were often met with repression. Development projects and the growth of the extractive industries further affected the rights of indigenous peoples and other traditional communities. Moreover, the region continued to face widespread violence and insecurity and reported one of the highest murder rates in the world. Governments adopted security approaches that fell short 226 UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2018 UN HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE FIELD of human rights standards. In a number of countries, governments militarized their public security, introduced criminal laws that undermined due process and fair trial guarantees, applied tough anti-terrorist laws, employed private security companies without appropriate oversight and increased the length of pre-trial incarcerations. A number of countries strengthened their legal and institutional frameworks to protect the rights of women and LGBTI persons. Nevertheless, violence against women, including gender-related killings, remains widespread. In addition, discriminatory sociocultural patterns persist, limiting access to education and work, among other human rights violations and abuses. In several countries, femicide rates are among the highest in the world. Opposition to women’s rights and LGBTI rights, as well as efforts to seriously restrict gender equality and sexual and reproductive rights, is growing in the region, with support from religious and conservative groups. The Americas are experiencing unprecedented flows of migrants and asylum seekers (in particular from Central America, Haiti and Venezuela). Although some States adopted open border policies, the flows are placing a massive strain on already stretched public services. Policies recently adopted by the United States of America to address migration have raised a series of human rights concerns, including regarding possible restrictions on the right to seek asylum. In response to the migration crisis in the region, OHCHR conducted missions to Guatemala and Honduras to strengthen the capacity of governments and civil society organizations to address the issue of disappeared migrants and document and advocate in relation to cases of human rights violations in transit and at borders. OHCHR’s country presences in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico monitored the human rights situation of migrants travelling in caravans towards the United States. OHCHR shared information with different stakeholders and provided technical assistance to authorities and national human rights institutions to uphold migrants’ human rights. OHCHR also monitored the crisis of Venezuelan and Nicaraguan migrants and refugees and conducted field missions to various countries to interview Venezuelan and Nicaraguan migrants and refugees. To advance human rights in the region, OHCHR maintained its close contact with regional organizations, especially with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Positive results achieved during the reporting period include an increasing number of joint press releases issued by the field presences and the IACHR; stronger collaboration in monitoring the situation of human rights defenders on the ground; joint capacity-building initiatives for human rights defenders and additional follow-up on the implementation of precautionary measures granted to human rights defenders at risk. The Commission participated in the thirty-seventh, thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth sessions of the Human Rights Council and OHCHR participated in the 170th session of the IACHR. Furthermore, a joint expert consultation on the protection of human rights defenders and the annual meeting of focal points of OHCHR and the IACHR were co-organized within the framework of the Joint Action Mechanism to contribute to the Protection of Human Rights Defenders in the Americas. OHCHR actively participated in Regional Monthly Reviews under the Human Rights up Front Initiative, identified potential risks of human rights deterioration and recommended appropriate UN integrated responses in the Americas. BARBADOS Type of engagement Human Rights Adviser for English-speaking Caribbean Countries of engagement Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago Year established 2012 Field office(s) Bridgetown UN partnership framework UN Multi-country Sustainable Development Framework (UN MSDF) in the Caribbean 20172021 Staff as of 31 December 2018 1 XB requirements 2018 US$125,000 Key OMP pillars in 2018 KEY PILLAR RESULTS: Mechanisms (M) M1 – At least four Caribbean countries (Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, Suriname, Jamaica) have established mechanisms for human rights reporting and follow-up. The Office advocated for the establishment of mechanisms for integrated reporting and implementation of the recommendations issued by the international human rights mechanisms, including by raising awareness and building their capacity on human rights reporting and implementation. To address the long-standing challenges of reporting to the international human rights mechanisms in the subregion, the Office conducted trainings on human rights reporting and implementation for National Mechanisms for Reporting and Follow-up (NMRFs) for 70 participants from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and Saint Kitts and Nevis. OHCHR conducted a human rights training for key government representatives in Saint Lucia, which included advocacy for the establishment of an NMRF. In 2018, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs submitted Cabinet papers in support of establishing an NMRF. In 2018, the Office conducted trainings on shadow reporting for civil society organizations in Barbados, Belize, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Suriname and at a Caribbean regional conference for CSOs working on women’s rights. More than 150 participants in total, including 107 women, attended the trainings. As a result of this training, the number of CSOs that submitted shadow reports for the third UPR cycle of Barbados increased to six. The Office supported the UN Country Teams (UNCTs) and the UN Subregional Team in drafting four joint submissions, specifically a joint submission from Guyana’s UNCT to CEDAW; a joint submission from the UN Subregional Team and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) for Barbados’ third UPR cycle; a joint submission from the UN Subregional Team and the OECS to the Human Rights Committee regarding Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; and a joint submission from the United Nations Subregional Team for Dominica’s third UPR cycles. Non-Discrimination (ND) ND1 – At least in three countries (Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados) laws and/ or policies provide better protection of the rights of women, persons with disabilities, PLHIV, LGBTI persons and/or religious minorities. M2 – At least five civil society organizations have produced alternative reports to a treaty body or a stakeholder report in the third UPR cycle (Jamaica, Barbados, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago). The Office contributed to increasing the level of compliance of legislation and policy with international human rights norms and standards in relation to the rights of women, LGBTI persons and persons with disabilities in five countries of the subregion. During the reporting period, four joint UN submissions were made from Barbados, Dominica, Guyana and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to the treaty bodies and in anticipation of these countries’ third UPR cycles. The Office engaged in human rights trainings and advocacy relating to discriminatory laws and practices regarding the rights of women, LGBTI persons and the rights of persons with disabilities in Barbados, Saint Kitts and Nevis, UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2018 227