UN HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE FIELD Mechanisms (M) M1 – Cambodia submits five reports to the treaty bodies that conform with reporting guidelines, as well as its report to the UPR. It adopts an integrated and participatory approach to preparing and following up these reports. The four reports submitted during the reporting period (CERD, CEDAW, CRC and UPR) largely conformed to the respective reporting guidelines. In 2018, a series of trainings on treaty body reporting were completed with support from OHCHR. Following the conclusion of the training workshops, State Party reports were submitted to CERD, CEDAW and CRC. OHCHR provided substantive support to the mechanisms that are responsible for drafting the CEDAW and CRC reports to ensure that they complied with the reporting guidelines. Consultations with CSOs were carried out during the drafting of the reports. At the end of the year, the overdue reports to CRPD and CESCR were in the final drafting stages. Initial work was underway on the overdue report to CED, yet no progress was made on completing the overdue response to CAT’s list of issues or the reply to the findings and recommendations issued by SPT. The State report for the UPR was submitted on time. Following an initial consultation with limited CSO participation, OHCHR supported a larger and more participatory event that included civil society as well as development partners and line ministries. The National Mechanism for Reporting and Follow up (NMRF) was officially established in June 2018. Although it was not responsible for all treaty reporting in 2018, it should play an important coordination role for the preparation of all reports to the international human rights mechanisms. OHCHR supported the first meeting of 258 UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2018 Spotlights: UN HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE FIELD the NMRF and shared examples of good practices and lessons learned from around the world. The Cambodian Human Rights Commission and the NMRF committed, in writing, to establishing a workplan to follow up on the UPR recommendations once they are adopted in 2019. M2 – Civil society organizations and the UN Country Team increasingly engage with the human rights mechanisms when they report to the treaty bodies, special procedures and the UPR. During the reporting period, two shadow reports to CEDAW and CRC, the first individual complaint to CEDAW, a joint UNCT submission and 11 collective substantive thematic submissions by CSOs for the third UPR cycle were made. Following OHCHR’s trainings on the Optional Protocol to CEDAW, the first individual complaint was submitted to CEDAW regarding a female land rights activist. OHCHR supported two umbrella organizations, namely NGO-CRC and NGO-CEDAW, to submit their respective shadow reports to the Committee. The UNCT prepared a joint confidential report to CEDAW, with inputs from OHCHR. The submission was finalized by the United Nations Theme Group on Gender, in early December, for validation and submission by the UNCT in February 2019. In the context of the OHCHR-chaired UNCT Theme Group on Human Rights, the UNCT prepared a report for the UPR, which was submitted by the Resident Coordinator in July. A courtesy copy was shared with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). Initial meetings were held with the MFA to discuss possible cooperation for UPR follow-up in 2019. Youth In addition to individual submissions, national and international civil society organizations prepared 11 collective substantive thematic submissions for Cambodia’s third cycle of the UPR. For the first time in Cambodia, each thematic working group drafted a two-page summary factsheet on their report as a practical tool to advocate for Member States to use the recommendations of CSOs. This was the outcome of a series of five workshops that were organized by OHCHR, after March, in cooperation with the Cambodian Center for Human Rights and UPR Info (an international NGO). The workshops helped to raise awareness about Cambodian CSOs on the importance of making substantive submissions to the UPR and trained them in preparing quality submissions. In November, the EU delegation in Phnom Penh hosted a half-day session, during which CSOs presented the factsheets to the diplomatic community. All invited embassies expressed their great appreciation for this advocacy model. Development (D) D2 – Business actors increasingly implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, including by engaging with local and national authorities, civil society organizations, local and indigenous communities and other stakeholders. In 2018, the Office continued to raise the awareness of various business enterprises to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). The Office provided them with a video, in Khmer, on the implementation framework of the UNGPs. OHCHR also teamed up with the Resident Coordinator’s Office to engage with the private sector in the context of the SDGs. With support from the Office, progress was achieved with regard to solving land disputes through non-judicial mechanisms. OHCHR provided technical assistance and observed a mediation process between the SOCFIN Company and the Bunong Indigenous Peoples’ Community regarding traditional land that was granted to the company in 2007 as an Economic Land Concession (ELC). The support from OHCHR contributed to solving most of the disputes related to collective land. Support for dispute resolution began in 2015. In 2017, the Independent Mediation Group launched a mediation process. To address the power imbalance between the company and the Bunong community, OHCHR provided financial support to the Legal Aid of Cambodia NGO. This enabled them to train community representatives in mediation skills and provide legal advice during the mediation. Together with ADHOC and LICADHO, OHCHR advocated within and monitored a land dispute resolution process between a community and an ELC/Cement Company in Sdao Commune, in the Rattanak Mondul District of the Battambang Province. As a result, the 27 remaining families received fair compensation and the case was closed. D3 – Laws, policies and strategies on land, housing and property increasingly comply with human rights standards. Their implementation by the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Rural Development and sub-national authorities similarly complies with international standards. State institutions and programmes with international human right s norms and standards. During the reporting period, OHCHR and various partners continued to raise concerns about the complexity, length and cost of the Communal Land Titling (CLT) process. With the support of OHCHR, and following advocacy by the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, the five concerned ministries refined a discussion paper on the simplification of the CLT process. Following its endorsement at the technical level, OHCHR will convene a high-level seminar with the five ministries in 2019. Pending the simplification process, implementation of the CLT process continued, including with the support of OHCHR. As a result, 11 indigenous peoples’ communities (IPCs) in the Ratanakiri, Pursat and Kampong Thom Provinces have now progressed through Step 1, two IPCs progressed to Step 2 and one progressed to Step 3, the last step before the issuance of a land title. In collaboration with OHCHR, authorities trained 24 IPCs in two provinces that are in possession of a CLT on how to resolve land disputes using their CLTs. OHCHR published a government-sanctioned manual on the three-step CLT process for indigenous peoples, which was developed through a consultative process with the five ministries concerned. The manual will assist local authorities and IPCs to progress more efficiently through the CLT steps. Through capacity-building and awareness-raising activities, OHCHR aimed at improving the compliance of selected UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2018 259