284. Participating States should engage in peer review with other states in good faith, and should co-operate with international human rights bodies with the aim of strengthening the protection of human rights defenders and creating and consolidating a safe and enabling environment for their work. The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, for example, has called on its member states to co-operate with the Council of Europe human rights mechanisms, in particular with the ECtHR and with the Commissioner for Human Rights, by facilitating country visits, providing adequate responses and entering into dialogue with the Commissioner about the situation of human rights defenders when so requested.441 Similarly, participating States should co-operate with and respond favourably to requests by UN Special Procedures, including the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, to visit their countries.442 They should also fully comply with their obligations to periodically report to monitoring bodies on the implementation of the international human rights instruments that they have ratified, and to provide these bodies with specific information on measures taken to ensure the protection of human rights defenders as required. In particular, states should provide effective and diligent follow-up to the recommendations made by international treaty monitoring bodies and other human rights mechanisms. The UN Human Rights Council has encouraged states to “include in their reports for the universal periodic review and to treaty bodies information on the steps taken to create a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders”. 443 285. Participating States are encouraged to seek the assistance of ODIHR when review- ing legislation and developing legal amendments, in order to bring their laws fully in line with international human rights standards and OSCE commitments relevant to the protection of human rights defenders. Furthermore, they should provide information to ODIHR about the steps taken to implement the present Guidelines. This is important in order to ensure that ODIHR is able to perform its monitoring role and assist participating States in the implementation of relevant human dimension commitments, including by sharing information and best practices.444 As the main institution working in the human dimension, ODIHR is tasked with “reporting at regular intervals on its activities and providing information on implementation issues”, including to the OSCE Permanent Council, and to “provide supporting material for the annual review of implementation and, where necessary, 441  Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Declaration, para. 2(viii). 442  The UNGA has called on states to “give serious consideration to responding favourably to the requests of the Special Rapporteur to visit their countries, and urges them to enter into a constructive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur with respect to the follow-up to and implementation of her recommendations, so as to enable the Special Rapporteur to fulfil her mandate even more effectively”; see A/RES/66/164, para. 10. 443  See A/HRC/RES/22/6, para. 19. 444  In accordance with the 1992 Helsinki Document, ODIHR’s mandate is to assist OSCE participating States to “ensure full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, to abide by the rule of law, to promote principles of democracy and ... to build, strengthen and protect democratic institutions, as well as promote tolerance throughout society.”(Helsinki 1992, “Decisions: VI. The Human Dimension”, para. 2). Furthermore, ODIHR’s role includes serving as a point of contact for information provided by participating States in accordance with their OSCE commitments, as well as disseminating information on the human dimension (Rome 1993, “Decisions: IV. The Human Dimension”, para. 4). Guidelines on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders 133