REPORTING TO THE UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS TREATY BODIES TRAINING GUIDE: Part II — Notes for Facilitators ONE-AND-A-HALF DAY’S MOCK SESSION A one-and-a-half day’s mock session simulates a constructive dialogue in its entirety. Its aim is to support the preparations by a State party for an upcoming dialogue with a Treaty Body. To achieve this goal, this mock session is often placed within a two-day treaty-specific training course consisting of three main sessions: a) the key provisions of a specific core international human rights treaty; b) the relevant Committee, including format of the constructive dialogue; and, c) the mock session. By the end of such a training session the participants (i.e., the actual members of the delegation who will be representing the State party) should be able to complete its preparations for the upcoming constructive dialogue with a specific Treaty Body. TIP ÎÎHow to adapt Session 4.3 to a two-day training course which includes a one-and-a-half days mock session? ¡¡ In advance of the training: üü Ensure that the members of the delegation have in advance a set of the following documents: State party report; List of Issues; replies to the List of Issues; previous concluding observations (if a periodic report); alternative reports received by the Committee; the text of the treaty; and the reporting guidelines. üü Identify a ‘mock committee’. For example, a former or current* expert of the relevant Treaty Body along with UN colleagues working in the country on human rights issues relating to the treaty and who are, preferably, familiar with the Treaty Body’s reporting procedure. ¡¡ The interactive presentation (step 1) can be extended to a whole morning divided into two sessions (i.e., overview of a treaty and its committee) during the first day of the training. Whenever possible, a Treaty Body expert can be invited as a resource person to deliver them. ¡¡ The mock session sequence can be organized as follows: üü Preparation of the delegation for the mock session (step 2): half a day – often the afternoon of the first day of the training. It is important that participants have clear instructions as to what is expected from them during this half-day and that they remain in the venue! They can identify potential questions to be addressed to them based on, for example, the List of Issues sent to the State party by the Treaty Body and alternative reports; take stock of new implementation developments not contained in the report and of the replies to the List of Issues they may wish to include in the introductory remarks by the head of the delegation which they will be drafting. This time may also be used for them to organize who will be responding to each type of question. üü The mock session (step 3): one full day. The duration of any constructive dialogue is six hours. Most Treaty Bodies hold these two meetings over two consecutive working days, starting in the afternoon of the first day and continuing in the morning of the second day. However, for training purposes the six hours can be distributed, following the CEDAW model, as follows: three hours in the morning, followed by lunch and then three hours in the afternoon. See Session 4.2.2 (iii), Part 1 of this Training Guide for more information on the format of the constructive dialogue. üü Debriefing in plenary (step 4). 54 * Provided that their participation is not contrary to “the Addis Ababa Guidelines” on the independence and impartiality of members of the human rights Treaty Bodies (see chapter 1.3, Part 1 of this Training Guide).