2. the national human rights institution mandate government; given the NHRI’s unique role as interlocutor between the state authorities and the population the NHRI should also try to channel the concerns of the citizens, naturally in a way that reflects the human rights issues at stake. In order to monitor effectively the status of reproductive rights nationally, a NHRI could consider the following steps: 1. When receiving individual complaints a NHRI should not simply treat these on an individual basis but also consider them as a means of obtaining information on what is going on in the country on a more general level. Information from individual complaints, respecting the tenets of confidentiality, should be systematized and taken into account as part of monitoring of national trends. 2. Most NHRIs will categorize their work, especially complaints, according to type of human rights and this will be followed when making statistics. Thus, several NHRIs, including the NHRIs in Nepal, Maldives, Jordan, India and Bangladesh, are considering including reproductive rights as a specific category to get a clearer picture of the situation with respect to reproductive rights. Often, a case will concern alleged violations of various human rights; a violation of a person’s reproductive rights might also be categorized as a women’s rights issue, a child rights issue, an issue concerning the right to health etc. The same will also often be the case for other types of human rights violations. For this reason, NHRIs should consider implementing systems where a matter can be placed in several categories. 3. According to the Paris Principles NHRIs are to develop ties with civil society. Civil society is a primary source of information. If a NHRI has close ties and regular interaction with civil society, the NHRI can obtain a wealth of information about the situation in the country. To do so the NHRI must think beyond the human rights NGOs, important as they are, and try to cultivate relationships also with women’s organizations (particularly important for reproductive rights), children’s organizations, community based organizations, rural organizations, trade unions, professional bodies (including law and medical associations and societies), churches, traditional leaders, development organizations, etc. Especially with respect to reproductive rights, it is important to establish relationships with the main hospitals and with associations of health professionals. It is important not to forget organizations and associations representing the most vulnerable and marginalized groups, such as the LGBT community, sex workers, etc. Developing relationships with medical associations and with providers of health services seems of particular importance with respect to reproductive rights in order to get access to relevant information. The NHRI should also try to develop relationships with academic institutions, such as universities, that might produce research that can be used by the NHRI in its monitoring. A very basic way of getting information is to use the press. Even though it is probably not advisable to base interventions purely on press reports, tracking information systematically in the papers, the radio, television and websites can be a useful source. 43