47
(under the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture) for treaty body members and
participates in such visits as support.
The secretariat also provides technical briefings to States parties and induction
training for new treaty body members. During the induction, the work of the
treaty bodies is presented and issues related to travel, security, privileges and
immunities, standards of conduct and other issues of interest to new members
are explained. Moreover, the secretariat organizes thematic discussions, special
events and meetings with States, civil society, United Nations agencies and other
international organizations, and other stakeholders.
The secretariat further undertakes all administrative tasks for the treaty bodies’
sessions, including facilitating travel arrangements in coordination with members
and the travel section of OHCHR, formatting and submitting documents for
editing and translation to the Division of Conference Management, and liaising
with this Division on organizational issues such as meeting room bookings and
interpretation services. All staff members supporting treaty bodies are international
civil servants answerable to the Secretary-General, which in practice means
the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Director of the Human Rights
Treaties Division. HRTD staff work under the supervision of secretaries and chiefs
of section under an established HRTD workplan. Staff members of other parts of
the United Nations providing support to the treaty bodies are similarly answerable
to the Secretary-General and, in practice, to the Director-General of UNOG and
the Director of the Division of Conference Management or the United Nations
Information Service.
Other divisions of OHCHR and their support to the treaty bodies
Other divisions in OHCHR also support the work of the treaty bodies. OHCHR field
presences have an important role in providing information on country situations
for the reporting process and in assisting States and others in following up on
treaty body recommendations. Similarly, OHCHR and other United Nations field
presences can help in the organization of inquiries and visits. The Research and
Right to Development Division in OHCHR supports treaty bodies by providing
research to assist with the drafting of general comments/recommendations and by
convening seminars and workshops on issues related to specific treaties.
The OHCHR Communications Section organizes press conferences, circulates
press statements and raises awareness of the treaty bodies’ work through various
media, including social media, the press as well as radio and television. The
OHCHR National Institutions, Regional Mechanisms and Civil Society Section
also supports the work of the human rights treaty bodies by reaching out to its
constituencies.
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