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Contents
I. From Burden to Opportunity........................................................................................................v
II. About the Training Guide............................................................................................................vi
i. Background................................................................................................................. vi
ii. Overview of the Training Guide.................................................................................... vi
1. The United Nations Human Rights System..................................................................... 2
1.1. Introduction..............................................................................................................2
1.2. International human rights treaties...............................................................................4
1.3. The human rights Treaty Bodies..................................................................................8
1.3.1. Members......................................................................................................9
1.3.2. Functions....................................................................................................10
2. National Mechanisms for Reporting and Follow-up..................................................... 18
2.1. Introduction............................................................................................................18
2.2. Definition and benefits.............................................................................................19
2.3. Types and key capacities.........................................................................................20
2.4. Linkages between human rights reporting and reporting on implementation of
Sustainable Development Goals................................................................................22
3. The Benefits of Treaty Body Reporting......................................................................... 26
3.1. Self-assessment of compliance with a treaty................................................................26
3.2. Stimulation of national dialogue and “buy-in”.............................................................27
3.3. International expert advice and experience from other countries...................................27
4. The Reporting Procedure............................................................................................ 30
4.1. The Report of the State party ...................................................................................32
4.1.1. Reporting Periodicity....................................................................................32
4.1.2. Content of reports........................................................................................34
4.1.3. Format of reports ........................................................................................39
4.2. The stages of the reporting cycle...............................................................................40
4.2.1. Preparation and submission of the report........................................................41
4.2.2. Consideration of the report ..........................................................................51
4.2.3. Follow-up and implementation of concluding observations ...............................55
4.3. The Simplified Reporting Procedure...........................................................................58
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