HIGHLIGHTS OF RESULTS HIGHLIGHTS OF RESULTS P3 Business, policy-makers and the public at large increasingly value and support civic space. In a number of EU countries, sustained engagement by UN Human Rights, particularly through its monitoring and advocacy, bolstered efforts of national, regional and international actors to respond more effectively to threats to civic space and challenges to the rule of law. A series of country visits, engagement with UN mechanisms and exchanges with civil society and regional actors helped to maintain a focus on regrettable developments in Hungary and Poland, and on the need for concerted international action in response. Building on long-term cooperation with UN Human Rights, the Human Rights Master’s Programme Consortium in the Russian Federation was institutionalized in 2018 as a legal entity called the Research Institute for Problems of Globalization and Human Rights. This enhances the future sustainability of the Programme. To further consolidate the Master’s curricula, the Consortium, with technical support from UN Human Rights, began developing two new textbooks on economic, social and cultural rights and the rights of the child. For the first time, the European Parliament made extensive use of international human rights standards to take action against an EU member State for breaches of values and rights. The European Parliament grounded its comprehensive resolution, opening the legal proceedings against Hungary, in the 2018 concluding observations issued by the Human Rights Committee, the 2014 concluding observations issued by CRC, and in recommendations issued by the UN Working Group on arbitrary detention, the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, and the statements of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The 2018 Summer School on Human Rights, hosted by the Consortium, brought together more than 200 university students from 17 universities in four countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Summer School offered an intensive interdisciplinary practical learning programme aimed at expanding the students’ knowledge about the scope and content of the UDHR and the UN human rights system. P4 Civil society assistance to victims of human rights violations is strengthened. An Arab region coalition of women human rights defenders (WHRDs) was established in November, as a result of a workshop organized by UN Human Rights and designed to develop a road map for the work of WHRDs in the region. The coalition aims to increase women’s participation in human rights defence, including by advocating for a safer environment for their work. UN Human Rights is closely following up on the coalition’s progress and will continue to provide technical support and capacity-building, especially regarding the use of digital assets for communication and interaction with the international human rights mechanisms. WOMEN DRIVE CONFLICT PREVENTION IN MAURITANIA In Baku, Azerbaijan, UN Human Rights established a legal aid resource centre to provide free professional legal assistance to groups at risk, including persons with disabilities, those with a low income and others seeking access to justice or legal redress in cases of alleged human rights violations. As a result, between February and December, 355 applicants accessed the centre’s free legal services receiving legal assistance on a range of matters, including on representation in civil and administrative court cases, rights to social benefits, property rights, family law and labour rights. Clients were supported in respect of various administrative, civil and criminal matters, including on procedural matters and on preparation and submission of law suits, motions and court documents, as well as in relation to requests, instances and complaints to public institutions. In Bassikounou, Mauritania, a region hosting 55,000 refugees, UN Human Rights worked to empower women at the village level for conflict prevention. UN Human Rights helped establish conflict prevention committees in 49 villages, actively encouraging the participation of women. As a result, important gender-sensitive solutions were adopted, such as the prevention of early marriage through the mediation by women with families intending to marry young girls. In addition to legal services rendered in Baku, UN Human Rights closely collaborated with the NHRI and Bar Association to organize monthly on-site legal services in regions of Azerbaijan, where 207 out of 355 cases were handled. According to the centre’s data, among the 355 applicants who received legal services were 160 women, 100 persons with disabilities, 160 persons with a low income, 70 persons who were unemployed and 25 persons with IDP status. P5 More systematic monitoring of the environment for civic space, including threats to it, takes place. “UN Human Rights has trained me on human rights and women’s rights. After an awareness session was organized in my neighbourhood by a group of three women from the village committee of Bassikounou, a neighbour contacted me to talk about the upcoming wedding of her 13-year-old daughter. I mobilized a group of women and we met with the groom’s family to raise awareness about the dangers of marrying the girl at a young age and to explain that Mauritanian law prohibits marriage before With a view to supporting the establishment of protection mechanisms that conform to international human rights standards, UN Human Rights provided technical advice and financial support to the Human Rights Defenders Network in Guinea-Bissau. This collaboration led to the completion of a countrywide mapping of human rights defenders. The final stage of the mapping took place from June to September and involved field missions to Bigéne, Bissora, Farim and Mansaba where 116 human rights defenders, including 58 women, were identified. The full mapping exercise, which began in 2017, led to the identification of 791 human rights defenders, including 328 women defenders. The Human Rights Defenders Network initiated a process of decentralization through the establishment of regional structures as an important step towards the creation of early warning mechanisms in a number of the country’s regions. 50 UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2018 Shifts: Global Constituency Prevention Civic Space 18 years of age. Then we met with the girl’s father. Finally, a meeting was set up with the girl’s family to talk about the law that prohibits marriage before the age of 18 years. We managed to postpone the marriage!” said Vatme Mint Mohamed El Adb, member of the village committee of Bassikounou, Mauritania. Shifts: Climate change Corruption Inequalities New technologies Village committee members in Mauritania show their support for eliminating violence against women. © OHCHR/Mauritania People on the move UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2018 51