methods for influencing the different stakeholders. Among the State representatives, it might be most relevant to focus on the government officials responsible for coordinating the drafting of the State report and through the Permanent Mission in Geneva. The methods for influencing State representatives are very context specific. In this regard, it might be useful to engage with international partners who can contribute with direct connections to the Missions in Geneva and with some internal perspectives on how other States engage with the Committee. There are two official methods for influencing country rapporteurs and other Committee members in connection with the hearing. This is through a written alternative report and through participation in the NGO briefing with the Committee, which takes place the day before the oral hearing with the State in Geneva. The written report will serve to provide the Committee members with detailed, reliable information providing an alternative perspective to what is contained in the State report. It may thus correct out-dated or incorrect information contained in the State report and may also provide information on issues that are not addressed. It is important that the report can contain background information, analysis of relevant aspects of the legal system and illustrative cases and statistics. While the report should ideally contain all these elements, it is fully legitimate to only cover one or more if this is more feasible. It is outside the scope of this practical guide to provide detailed instructions on how to draft an alternative report to the Committee. However, there are some general considerations, which are important to keep in mind for the drafting process: 18 1. Format: The Committee accepts and values information in all formats from an email to comprehensive booklets. The two main formats used are comprehensive reports focusing on the implementation of the full Convention or reports focused on specific thematic areas covered by the Convention. Comprehensive reports should ideally be structured according to the different provisions of the Convention to provide Committee members with an easy overview of the report. Further, these should ideally provide response to the questions posed by the Committee in its LOIPR. Conversely, thematic reports should focus on explaining the specific issue(s) covered and do not need to be structured along the Convention provisions. 2. Accessibility: Committee members usually have very limited time available and an overwhelming amount of information to digest for each country being reviewed. It is therefore crucial that the report is as accessible as possible. It should be concise, to the point and avoid unnecessary narrative. Using a table of contents, executive summary, graphic layout and annexes for lengthy background information are all valuable tools to achieve an easily readable document. 3. Objectivity: The report must be and appear to be objective. This means that all allegations must be well documented and clearly indicate what provision of UNCAT is allegedly being violated. Furthermore, it is important to recognise positive steps taken by the State to ensure that these are also taken into account by the Committee. Engaging with State reviews in the UN Committee against Torture: A practical guide